3 March, 2025At the 27 February IndustriALL Malaysia women’s committee meeting, 30 women union leaders, from IndustriALL Global Union Malaysia affiliates, highlighted unsafe and unhealthy practices in the country's manufacturing sectors.
Malaysian women unionists said unknown chemicals are being used and personal protective equipment are not given in some factories. Few workers were diagnosed with breast cancer, but their employers said it is not a work-related disease. Others said sometimes they carry stuff on the production floor and it causes slip discs.
Participants highlighted workplace gender discrimination, noting that superiors demanded proof when women requested time to change menstrual pads and used a scanning system to monitor toilet breaks.
The leaders, from eight Malaysian unions, commit to taking actions rejecting the unsafe and unhealthy working conditions. They agreed that the IndustriALL Malaysia Council women committee must play a prominent role in strengthening the voices of women workers and defending their rights.
Idawati Idrus, chair of the IndustriALL Malaysia Council women committee said:
“Women committee meetings are an important platform to discuss issues concerning women workers. We have the right to speak our mind and express our dissatisfaction on a variety of issues. We must provide more training to nurture strong women leadership and train young women as successors.”
IndustriALL policy on gender-based violence and harassment, misogyny and sexism and the salient points of ILO Convention 190 and 183 were shared in the meeting. Malaysian department of occupational safety and health (DOSH) and the social security organization (SOCSO) officials were also present and provided information relating to complaint procedures and social security schemes.
Ramon Certeza, IndustriALL regional secretary for South East Asia, said:
“IndustriALL women’s day theme for 2025 is: women in trade union leadership, the regional office will certainly provide necessary training support to empower women to ascend to leadership positions. We will work closely with Malaysian affiliates to address safety and health issues and campaign for international labour standards.”