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?
PETALING JAYA, April 4 (Bernama) — More than 60,000 contract workers in schools nationwide have yet to receive minimum wages, said Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) president, Mohd Khalid Atan.
These workers, who included cleaners, gardeners, security guards and traffic wardens, were still being paid old wages averaging between RM400 and RM600 per month, he told Bernama here Friday.
He urged the Education Ministry to look into their plight urgently as they were facing great hardship due to the increasing cost of living.
The minimum wages policy of RM900 per month for Peninsular Malaysia and RM800 per month for Sabah and Sarawak came into effect on Jan 1 2013, but was only fully implemented in January this year.
Some employers were given an extension until April 1, however.
Khalid said the Human Resources Ministry should intensify its enforcement efforts to ensure compliance.
He said MTUC was made to understand that the Ministry lacked sufficient enforcement officers to do so and if that was the case the union was willing to lend a hand.
He suggested that MTUC’s divisional leaders could be roped in to assist in the enforcement exercise.
Source: 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