President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of November 26 with a delegation from the US National Labor Relations Board, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and the heads of various state labor bureaus. In addition to reiterating the government's commitment to enhancing labor rights and promoting policies beneficial to laborers, the president also expressed his hopes that the visitors will continue to provide assistance in strengthening interaction and cooperation between Taiwan and the United States on labor-related issues.
In remarks, the president stated that the government has consistently placed great importance on the interests of laborers. He pointed out that in 2008 when the financial tsunami was sweeping throughout the world, the government immediately unveiled its so-called "three supports" policy, in which the government supported banks, the banks in turn supported enterprises by providing financing, and enterprises supported workers by keeping them on the payroll. The initiative enabled Taiwan to overcome many challenges, revitalize its economy, and form a united front between the government and the public in tackling the issues at the forefront then. The president emphasized that labor has and will continue to make an indispensable contribution to the nation.
The president stated that the government in 2010 passed the Act for Industrial Innovation with the hope of gradually transforming Taiwan from an efficiency-driven economy into an innovation-driven economy. He said he hopes that continued innovation and brand name creation will help Taiwan to adjust its industrial structure, and will also pave the way to greater growth in wages for laborers.
President Ma remarked that in the four-plus years since he took office, the government has made significant strides in improving safeguards for labor interests. For instance, in 2009 the government founded the Labor Rights Fund, which subsidizes labor litigation costs and also provides financial assistance to help laborers meet living expenses during the course of such litigation. As of the end of October this year, he said, individuals have filed over 20,000 applications for such assistance, and over 9,000 have been approved. To date, over 4,000 court cases have come to a conclusion, and the judgments have been in favor of labor over 80% of the time, resulting in awards to laborers totaling NT$918.48 million (about US$31.55 million).
President Ma furthermore mentioned that the government in 2009 also initiated the "parental leave allowance" system to meet the need of laborers to care for their children. As of the end of September this year, over 142,000 people have benefited from this program, with financial assistance of NT$11.92 billion (about US$490 million) having been disbursed, the president said.
The president stressed that the Labor Insurance Annuity scheme was introduced in 2009. Under this program at present, combined payouts from the labor pension system and the Labor Insurance Annuity scheme provide an income replacement rate of 70% for laborers upon retirement. Meanwhile, given the decreasing birth rate and the large increase in the number of senior citizens, the current pension system is facing the challenge of insufficient funding, as well as the fact that payouts vary from one group of recipients to the next, and from generation to generation, he said. The president stated that various agencies responsible for the implementation of the pension system are creating a special task force that will solicit a broad range of public opinion, critically assess the current system, and come up with pragmatic and feasible reform plans that safeguard employee interests and guarantee a sustainable pension system.
President Ma remarked that the entry into force on May 1 last year of amendments to three major labor laws, namely the Labor Union Act, the Collective Agreement Act, and the Act for Settlement of Labor-Management Disputes, marks an important milestone in the history of labor in the ROC, because the amended provisions enable greater freedom in the organization of unions and further protect the interests of workers. In addition, to boost the quality of life for laborers and afford them greater dignity, and to establish a comprehensive platform to focus on labor-related issues, the Executive Yuan's Council of Labor Affairs in the future will be upgraded into the Ministry of Labor, he said, which will strengthen the government's ability to plan labor policies and provide services.
With respect to labor cooperation between Taiwan and the United States, President Ma stated, the ROC joined the US National Association of Governmental Labor Officials in 2001, and it regularly participates in the organization's annual conference activities. The ROC also actively promotes contact with US labor officials at the federal and state levels, he said, thereby enabling the United States to better understand the state of labor affairs here. In addition, the president explained, the Executive Yuan's Council of Labor Affairs annually invites officials from the US Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to Taiwan to deliver lectures and share experience at seminars held here. This bolsters interaction among labor agencies in both countries, which the president commended.
President Ma furthermore stated that the ROC and the United States not only share the core values of freedom, human rights, and democracy, but also maintain close cooperation on a broad array of topics, including anti-terrorism, economic and trade ties, judicial assistance, energy, environmental protection, and labor affairs. The president noted that Taiwan was formally included in the US Visa Waiver Program as of November 1 this year, showing that government-to-government and people-to-people ties between the two countries have reached a new level. President Ma expressed his hopes that the United States in the future will continue to support the ROC in its bid to join the International Civil Aviation Organization and the World Health Organization. He also called upon the delegation members to help Taiwan join the International Labour Organization, and to strengthen bilateral interaction and cooperation in labor-related topics.
The delegation included National Labor Relations Board Chairman Mark G. Pearce, Acting General Counsel Lafe E. Solomon, Deputy Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service for National and International Programs Allison Beck, and President of the National Association of Governmental Labor Officials Lawrence G. Rebman. It was accompanied to the Presidential Office by Council of Labor Affairs Minister Pan Shih-wei (潘世偉) to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting were Secretary-General to the President Timothy Chin-tien Yang (楊進添), and National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Philip Y. M. Yang (楊永明).