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?
It urged the pair to quit their posts and become labourers or work in a factory.
<p>“Then they should decide if the Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC)
should drop its demand for minimum wage of RM900 or not,” said Jerit coordinator
K Simon in a statement today.</p>
<p>He was responding to Fong’s (right) call on MTCU to drop its demand as
it would lead to the country losing its competitive edge.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Abdul Rahman reportedly dismissed the pickets held on Monday by
MTUC as not representing the voice of all union members as only 6,417 of the
three million members had participated.</p>
<p>The deputy minister also said that enforcing a minimum wage and giving cost
of living allowance was impossible and unfair in certain sectors such as the
small and medium industries and domestic helpers as this was beyond the means
of employers.</p>
<p><b>Why the fear?</b></p>
<p>However, Jerit felt that these statements were uncalled for.</p>
<p>“Why are the ministers so afraid of investors and employers? Demanding
a minimum wage of RM900 is nothing compared to the millions reaped in profit
by the private sector,” said Simon.</p>
<p>Jerit argued that with the high productivity of workers in this country and
with other Asian countries such as Vietnam, South Korea and China having a minimum
wage policy, there was no excuse for Malaysia not to do so.</p>
<p>In May, the Productivity Report 2006 by the National Productivity Council revealed
that Malaysia scored 3.7 percent in the productivity level which is much higher
than more developed countries.</p>
<p>Malaysia’s productivity level surpassed that of the Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) countries such as Sweden (2.8 percent),
Japan (2.5 percent), Germany (2.0 percent), Denmark (1.8 percent), US (1.5 percent)
and the UK (1.7 per cent).</p>
<p>On the same note, Jerit expressed that there is nothing wrong in providing
a minimum wage for foreign domestic helpers.</p>
<p>“If you can’t afford them, then don’t hire them. Do the work on your own
and tell us whether they deserve it or not,” said Simon.</p>
<p><i>Source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/69195</i>
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