Chunghwa Telecom Union Protests at Ministry of Transportation, Criticizing Management's Neglect

The Chunghwa Telecom Workers' Union, citing management's continued disregard for demands such as collective agreements and increased pension contribution rates, as well as unfulfilled subsidy promises, protested at the Ministry of Transportation today, demanding that Minister of Transportation Chen Shih-kai remove Chunghwa Telecom Chairman Chien Chih-cheng. In recent years, due to the company's strong performance, the union has proposed several demands, including delaying mandatory retirement age, increasing the employer's contribution rate for the new labor pension system to over 15%, renegotiating collective agreements, and salary increases. They had previously agreed to postpone strike votes until July 1, 2024, after the company proposed a salary increase plan. However, the union criticized that since Chien Chih-cheng took office, labor-management negotiations on issues including collective agreements, pension contribution rates, salary increases, and retirement delays have stalled. They also claimed that promised subsidies to the union were not paid and demanded that Minister Chen intervene and replace Chien. Union Chairman Deng Ke-lian expressed his anger, stating that while Chien criticized the union's action as slander, the union's four major demands are "reasonable." He also pointed out that promised subsidies and bonuses for model workers remain unpaid. Deng stated that the company had promised to match public sector salary increases, but despite record-breaking performance last year, management claims difficulties whenever salary increases are discussed. He criticized the company for being unyielding regarding employee benefits despite record Q1 earnings. In response, Chunghwa Telecom issued a press release stating that they have provided consecutive salary increases over the past five years, including a fixed increase of NT$2,400 per person and one-time bonuses this year. They also highlighted various employee-friendly benefits, such as reduced working hours for childcare and extended maternity leave, arguing that the union's insistence on further salary increases deviates from rational negotiation norms. Regarding the pension contribution rate, the company stated that through schemes like stock ownership trusts, the effective contribution rate has reached 9.75%, significantly higher than the statutory 6%. Regarding retirement delays, the company noted that they have implemented a "post-retirement re-employment plan" since last year and currently see no need for a comprehensive extension of the mandatory retirement age. They also stated that progress has been made on several articles of the collective agreement.