TAIWAN LAWMAKERS CRITICIZE UNPROFITABLE STATE COS OVER BONUSES.

TAIPEI, Dec 1 Asia Pulse - Lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties on Friday criticized unprofitable state-run companies for planning to give handsome year-end bonuses to their employees -- an issue they said has upset the public.

Speaking at a news conference held at the Legislative Yuan, members of the ruling Kuomintang's (KMT) legislative caucus demanded the Cabinet address the issue and threatened to put forward a motion, if necessary, to mandate state-owned enterprises issue year-end bonuses in accordance with company performance.

KMT legislative caucus whip Lo Shu-lei said the uncompetitive firms were planning to give large bonuses to their employees with taxpayers' money, pointing to Taiwan's oil refiner CPC Corp., Taiwan, and Taiwan's aircraft manufacturer Aerospace Industrial Development Corp., (AIDC) as examples.

CPC Corp., Taiwan, the state-owned petroleum product supplier, has suffered a deficit of nearly NT$100 billion (US$3.02 billion) this year, while the AIDC, a state aerospace company based in Taichung, has posted NT$10.8 billion in losses for the past eight years, Lo pointed out.

"Year-end bonuses of state-run businesses should be determined by their performance, particularly because their workers' employment rights have been fully protected by the law," she contended.

KMT lawmaker Wu Ching-chih suggested the CPC Corp. Taiwan and the Bureau of National Health Insurance lower their annual bonus levels fo workers at this current difficult time.

According to the ...