A joint statement issued by the ministry after the meeting said: 'A presentation was made on the main statistics for parties to take into account when applying the seven key criteria in negotiating a
minimum wage in the textile, garment and footwear sectors for 2020.
The minister added that the nontaxable minimum income will have to be raised along with the
minimum wage, but that the
minimum wage hike would automatically increase various benefits the size of which is tied to the
minimum wage, such as dependent care benefits, support to foster families and adoption benefits.
"For many grassroots level Taiwanese laborers, the annual
minimum wage hike is the only way to get a salary increase," Son said.
Colmenares, meanwhile, pointed out that decades of allowing regional wage boards to set
minimum wages 'have eroded the real incomes of workers,' thus, a law that would abolish the regional wage boards and reestablish a national
minimum wage should be legislated.
'The signing of new
minimum wage is another solid demonstration of a President who matches his words with actions,' he said.
In a 2014 analysis, the Congressional Budget Office examined the labor market effects of increasing the federal
minimum wage to $9 per hour and to $10.10 per hour.
The NLC president, however, refused to disclose the figure arrived at by the Tripartite Committee on the new National
Minimum Wage.
For comparison, the lowest
minimum wage in the European Union in January 2018 was 261 euros in Bulgaria.
'Yet, the Pakatan Harapan government finally gives in to the will of employers, by increasing the
minimum wage by RM50 only,' PSM said in its petition that has over 400 signatories at the time of writing.
The KDI's latest report said a yearly 15 percent hike in the
minimum wage to achieve the President's pledge of 10,000 won by 2020 will result in considerable job losses.