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4 May, 2000Workers give full support to umbrella labour group to press for a minimum wage by law.
MALAYSIA: The Malaysian Trades Union Congress received enthusiastic support at a May Day workers' rally regarding its long struggle to establish a minimum wage law. The umbrella labour organisation, the country's largest trade union grouping, with some 540,000 members, has been seeking such a law for nearly 50 years.
The MTUC president, Zainal Rampak, declared that a minimum wage should not be considered as a special privilege, but a worker's basic right. "A minimum wage will see a stable income," he said, "and working parents will not have to depend on overtime and allowances to be able to provide for their children's basic and educational needs." Social problems would also be reduced because parents would have more time to spend with their children. "We want a minimum wage based on the cost of living and for it to be made law and not a policy," he added. Other countries in the region have passed legislation, such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and even East Timor.
The MTUC will put forward its proposal to the government and hopes to achieve the new law soon, if possible by the end of this year. MTUC general secretary, G. Rajasekaran, who is also general secretary of the IMF-affiliated Metal Industry Employees' Union and executive secretary of the IMF Malaysian Council, said that "we will call for a nation-wide picket as a last resort if the establishment of a minimum wage is rejected."
Amongst other MTUC projects approved by the First of May rally are for:
- a social safety net;
- government ratification of ILO Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association and the Right to Organise;
- extension of the retirement age, from 55 to 58;
- improved maternity protection, giving three months' compulsory maternity leave, parental leave, childcare centres on the work premises as well as adequate breast-feeding areas and paid breast-feeding time.
The timing for labour reforms should be good, as Malaysia has emerged from the economic crisis, and there are signs of renewed economic growth.
The MTUC president, Zainal Rampak, declared that a minimum wage should not be considered as a special privilege, but a worker's basic right. "A minimum wage will see a stable income," he said, "and working parents will not have to depend on overtime and allowances to be able to provide for their children's basic and educational needs." Social problems would also be reduced because parents would have more time to spend with their children. "We want a minimum wage based on the cost of living and for it to be made law and not a policy," he added. Other countries in the region have passed legislation, such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and even East Timor.
The MTUC will put forward its proposal to the government and hopes to achieve the new law soon, if possible by the end of this year. MTUC general secretary, G. Rajasekaran, who is also general secretary of the IMF-affiliated Metal Industry Employees' Union and executive secretary of the IMF Malaysian Council, said that "we will call for a nation-wide picket as a last resort if the establishment of a minimum wage is rejected."
Amongst other MTUC projects approved by the First of May rally are for:
- a social safety net;
- government ratification of ILO Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association and the Right to Organise;
- extension of the retirement age, from 55 to 58;
- improved maternity protection, giving three months' compulsory maternity leave, parental leave, childcare centres on the work premises as well as adequate breast-feeding areas and paid breast-feeding time.
The timing for labour reforms should be good, as Malaysia has emerged from the economic crisis, and there are signs of renewed economic growth.