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?
Malaysian Trades Union Congress secretary-general G. Rajasekaran said the seven
councils looking into the issue should meet regularly to be abreast of development
in the marketplace.
<p>"There will be less dependence on foreign workers if the council can come
up with a competitive rate, taking into account the cost of living,’ he
said when commenting on the move to introduce minimum wages for three sectors.</p>
<p>Rajasekaran said a decent minimum wage would attract locals to even the most
vulnerable sectors.</p>
<p>He hoped the Human Resources Ministry would study the reasons behind the failure
of the move to introduce the same for shop assistants, cinema theatre workers
and bar, pub and hotel workers 25 years ago.</p>
<p>Rajasekaran said the councils would be particularly useful to the three sectors
which were not unionised.</p>
<p>On security guards, Rajasekaran agreed that they were underpaid for a job that
held great responsibility.</p>
<p>"Many security guards are also retired people who are paid on a daily
or hourly basis and who deserve a decent salary to be motivated to work hard,"
he said.</p>
<p>On assistant nurses, he said, they worked as long as 13 to 14 hours as their
working hours were spread out over the day.</p>
<p>As for casual farm workers, he said, they were not only underpaid but also
worked a limited number of days a month.
Address: Wisma MTUC,10-5, Jalan USJ 9/5T, 47620 Subang Jaya,Selangor | Tel: 03-80242953 | Fax: 03-80243225 | Email: sgmtuc@gmail.com.com