20120502 3pm

3PM Intro

Good afternoon. It's time for ICRT news at 3. I'm Mike Woodward.

Consultation Meeting On Nursing Reforms

First, Taiwan news... A national consultation meeting will be held this weekend to help improve the working conditions for nurses. The announcement by the Department of Health comes amid accusations that hospitals are exploiting nurses by forcing them to work overtime. Health minister Qiu Wen-da said the one-day meeting will address core issues such as the elimination of excessive administrative work, the restructuring of pay rates and the recruitment of new nursing staff. He said suggestions made by scholars, employers and union members over the last several weeks will be also be adopted and possibly included in a reform plan that will be published May 9. Qiu, a former superintendent of Taipei Medical University Hospital, said he understands the difficulty of conducting reforms, but added that NT$2 billion has been allocated to improve the working conditions for nurses. Medical workers' groups have been protesting recently against the deteriorating work environment in hospitals, dubbing certain healthcare institutes "sweatshops" that employ far too few nurses, who are expected to endure long hours of work. (jm)

Taiwan's Labor Force Getting Old

Taiwan's labor force has been aging over the past decade. According to just out government statistics, the share of the labor force aged 45 years and over grew to 36.15 percent in 2011 from 28.19 percent 10 years ago. The government attributed the growth to a rapid rise in the population of middle-aged and elderly people over the past decade. The agency statistics show the share of the overall population aged 45 and over in the 15-and-over segment rose from 37.19 percent in 2001 to 46.14 percent last year. Compared with Japan, which is known for having an aging society, Taiwan's labor force is still relatively young because the Japanese labor force aged 45 and over accounted for 49 percent of its labor force aged 15 and over. The statistics also show that in Taiwan, 72.98 percent of those aged 45-64 have prepared financial plans for their retirement. (jm)

Le pen

Marine Le Pen has refused to endorse either of the candidates in France's decisive second round presidential election. The far-right politician claimed third place in last month's first round, winning about 18 percent of the vote. Socialist Francois Hollande is tipped to beat incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy when they face off on Sunday. Kate Moody reports from Paris.

obama thanks troops

U.S. President Obama is in Afghanistan saying thank you to U.S. troops -- and marking the anniversary of the death of Osama bin-Laden. AP White House Correspondent Mark Smith reports.

weather

Taiwan weather forecast for tonight according to the Central Weather Bureau, thundershowers a likelihood island-wide tonight with the lows tonite north, center and south respectively: 20, 23 and 24. At the moment Taipei is somewhat cloudy and 31, Taichung rather cloudy and 30, Gauhsiung fairly cloudy and 30.

3PM Outro

That's ICRT News at 3. Thank you for listening. I'm Mike Woodward.