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Its leaders are no doubt encouraged by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s call to the business community to consider following the Government’s decision.
<P>However, Pak Lah can only suggest, and the final decision will still be
up to individual employers. The MTUC will be mistaken in its belief that it will
get government support. </P><P>The commercial world will never subject itself
to any pressure from any quarter to follow the Government, unless legislation
is introduced to compel it to do so. But this is not going to happen. </P><P>No
employer will raise his workers’ salaries because others are doing it, even if
Pak Lah’s suggestion is to be taken up by some private firms. </P><P>Government-linked
corporations are also likely to follow the private sector employers. They may
take the PM’s view into consideration, but the Government will give firms the
discretion to do what they think is best. </P><P>The MTUC therefore will be wasting
its time if it were to try and force private employers to increase their workers’
salary or to increase the cost of living allowance. It has also called on employers
to raise the minimum wage to RM900 and provide a Cola of RM300 per worker. </P><P>The
employers’ association will be the first to object to outsiders telling it what
to do, especially when it comes to issues with serious financial implications.
</P><P>Employers will only do so if they are doing well and, therefore, can afford
to offer better terms and conditions of service at the appropriate time, especially
during negotiations for a new collective agreement. </P><P>What the MTUC is proposing
will cripple the financial status of most companies since they cannot afford to
be as generous as the Government. While the Government can predict revenue based
on tax collections and other receipts, its leaders still have to consider whether
the Government can afford to raise wages and allowances. </P><P>Private employers
cannot over commit themselves where wages, allowances and bonuses are concerned.
It is difficult for them to forecast their business prospects beyond a year or
two. </P><P>They do not want to find themselves in a position that in bad years,
they would be unable to pay wages on time or retrench workers to save cost. This
will be quite irresponsible, and companies may close shop unless they can balance
their books properly. </P><P>It is also inconceivable that the MTUC, according
to reports, will take industrial action if its demands are not met. It has threatened
to begin by picketing at selected locations and to even call a one-day strike.
</P><P>It is not only the employers who will take exception to such tactics, but
the Government too. </P><P>All such loose talk should cease, and the public expects
the umbrella body of unions to stop issuing threats to achieve its target.</P><P><I>Source:
http://thestar.com.my/columnists/story.asp?file=/2007/6/12/columnists/vkchin/17883472&sec=VKChin</I>
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