Malaysia is one of Asia's biggest employers of foreign labour. But recently, cases of deaths, abuse and forced labour have come to light. What is going on? Who is protecting these migrant workers?
The Statistics Department in its August bulletin revealed that in the first
six months of this year, 45,311 vacancies existed in the elementary category,
mainly comprising general work.
<p>According to the monthly report, vacancies had been steadily increasing from
24,957 in January to 26,965 (Feb), 44,710 (March), 46,719 (April) and 41,663
in May.</p>
<p>The June figures even exceeded the December 2005 figure of 31,595 vacancies
in the same category.</p>
<p>"This indicates our production process is very much labour-intensive and
companies rely on cheap labour.</p>
<p>"Less capital means less demand for skilled workers or qualified workers
and that is why unemployment rate is still high among our graduates," Assoc
Prof Dr Zulkifly Osman from the Centre of Economic Analysis and Public Policy,
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia told Bernama here Monday.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) secretary-general G. Rajasekaran
said the main reason for the many vacancies in the lower category jobs were
largely due to poor wages.</p>
<p>"A female machine operator in Sungai Petani or Muar is only paid between
RM380 and RM450 a month. What sort of wages are these with the cost of living
going up every month?</p>
<p>"Companies deliberately keep wages low to justify the authorities to hire
migrant workers who are paid very low salaries," he added.</p>
<p>MTUC, Rajasekaran said, had been advocating a policy of RM900 minimum monthly
pay for many years to enable workers enjoy a reasonable standard of living but
the government had not approved it.</p>
<p>"If wages are low, vacancies in the general work category will continue
to rise because workers will not be interested," he said.</p>
<p>These vacancies were reported by employers through the Electronic Labour Exchange.
— BERNAMA
Address: Wisma MTUC,10-5, Jalan USJ 9/5T, 47620 Subang Jaya,Selangor | Tel: 03-80242953 | Fax: 03-80243225 | Email: sgmtuc@gmail.com.com