A group of unions representing public sector workers from the railways to the zoos met outside Taiwan's Cabinet building to call on the government to raise wages. These workers say that stagnant wages are making it nearly impossible to raise a family.
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00:00Government workers need higher salaries.
00:03That's the message from a group of unions
00:05representing civil servants from the railways to the zoos
00:08that have gathered in front of the cabinet building
00:10to demand change.
00:11The unions here say that while the government
00:13has made it a goal to improve pay for low-wage workers,
00:16defined as those making about US$950 per month or less,
00:20starting salaries for government workers
00:22are barely above that.
00:30How can we afford to buy a house?
00:32Even state-owned workers and civil servants
00:36are low-wage.
00:38Will this country improve?
00:40These workers are also upset that the heads of their agencies
00:43and companies are, as they see it,
00:45giving themselves raises while worker pay stagnates.
00:49I've been working for 30 years.
00:51My salary is only US$37,000 or US$38,000.
00:55It's not even close to US$40,000.
00:57I can't support my family.
00:59I still have to do part-time jobs.
01:01Because the prices are so high,
01:03so is the housing price.
01:04It's really hard to afford a house.
01:07With a rising cost of living and a shrinking population,
01:10these unions are working to make low wages
01:13a top priority of the government.
01:15Andy Hsueh and Chris Gorin for Taiwan Plus.