When the Malaysia Trades Union Congress (MTUC) decided to go ahead with nationwide picket on Monday to demand for a RM900 minimum wage and a cost-of-living allowance of RM300 for private sector workers, the biggest was held outside the EPF headquarters in Jalan Raja Laut in Kuala Lumpur in which some 1,000 workers participated.
"We find it difficult to make ends meet on wages of between RM400-RM500 a month with the cost of living ever on the increase," MTUC deputy president Abdullah Sani Abdul Majid said.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who was at Italy during the picket, in his remote statement advised the MTUC to resolve its issues of a minimum wage and higher allowance through negotiation and not by any action that could be damaging to workers.
However, Malaysiakini quoted Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang as saying that MTUC had presented a seven-page memorandum to PM a week before the union carried out a nationwide picket on Monday, but the memorandum did not elicit any appropriate response from PM. Worse, Abdullah has not held a single meeting with leaders of MTUC since he became the PM?
PM also said employers were now concerned about the high cost of manpower and could use that excuse to relocate their business to other countries.
"Investors intending to come to Malaysia may think twice about the cost of manpower (if that cost is high in Malaysia)."
Meanwhile, blogger Khoo Kay Peng supports minimum wage for workers, citing the pro-business and pro-investors policy over the years have neglected the needs and interests of workers in view of rising living cost.
Over the years, the government is undeniably too pro-business and pro-investors. Policy makers have neglected the needs and interests of the workers. In many industries, especially hospitality, basic wages are far too low. As a result, many of the workers have to depend on OT to survive.
With rising cost of living, the government had increased the salary and COLA of public sector workers. It has to be consistent in supporting a similar increase in the private sector. A total of 10.8 million workers deserved to be better remunerated.
Malaysia has a per capita income of RM40,000 per annum but lower-end workers can hardly expect a quarter of this amount.
40% of the 10 million workforce in the private sector were earning salaries below the poverty income level of RM691 per month and that it was timely for their request to be fulfilled now that the civil service had been given a pay rise and increased cola.
A minimum wage is a worker’s basic right and not a privilege.
Let’s do the right thing, Pak Lah.
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