Taiwan Considers 2027 Salary Hikes for Public Sector; Teachers Union Demands 10% Raise

Taiwan's government is considering salary increases for civil servants, military personnel, and teachers for 2027, prompting calls for significant adjustments from employee representatives. The Ministry of Education held a "2027 Civil Servant, Military, and Teacher Salary Adjustment Discussion Meeting" on June 8.

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The Directorate-General of Personnel Administration should no longer evade the issue of legalizing salary adjustments for educators and should establish a transparent, systematic salary adjustment mechanism.

The National Federation of Teachers' Unions (NFU) issued a statement urging the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration to address the issue of legalizing salary adjustments for educators. The union advocates for a transparent and systematic salary increase mechanism, proposing a minimum raise of 10% for teachers. NFU President Lin Hui-jung emphasized that fair compensation is crucial for retaining talent and ensuring educational quality.

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The salary increase for educators should be at least 10%.

Lin pointed out that while military, civil servants, and teachers saw significant single salary increases in the past (e.g., 20% in the 1970s-1990s), their cumulative raises over the last 15 years have been around 14%, averaging less than 1% annually. In contrast, the minimum wage has surged by over 57% since 2012. Furthermore, teachers' contributions to the retirement fund have increased, and rising costs for housing, energy, and daily necessities have eroded their real income.

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Teacher salaries are crucial for retaining talent and ensuring educational quality, but the current military, civil servant, and teacher salary adjustment mechanism lacks legal basis.

The NFU criticized the lack of a fixed, legally based adjustment mechanism, despite government assurances that adjustments would consider factors like the Consumer Price Index (CPI), economic growth, and private sector wage increases. The union noted that past promises to institutionalize salary adjustments have yet to be fulfilled. They are urging the government to establish a clear system that incorporates objective data, preventing adjustments from being solely at the discretion of administrative bodies and improving compensation for educators.

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In the past, from the 1970s to the 1990s, there were instances of a single salary increase of 20%. However, over the past 15 years, military, civil servants, and teachers have only had 4 salary increases, with a cumulative increase of about 14%, averaging less than 1% per year.