KUCHING, March 21 — The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) Sarawak wants the minimum wage policy to cover all types of companies, not just confined to multinational companies and government-linked corporations.
Its secretary Andrew Lo said the federal government’s intention to allow only micro businesses as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to postpone the implementation of the RM1,500 minimum wage is not right.
“Such a proposal will be discriminatory and maybe even non-compliance with the National Wages Consultative Council Act (NWCCA),” Lo said when asked to respond to the announcement made by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob at the Umno general assembly recently.
He said the cost of living for workers is the same no matter which employer they work for.
“A cup of coffee, a pack of nasi lemak, a bowl of mee or a litre of petrol cost the same whether one is an employee of a GLC, a multinational big company or a small business.
“They are all from the same Keluarga Malaysia.
“In fact most big companies provide other employment perks that SMEs do not provide. So workers of small business are already worse off,” he stressed.
Lo said it is also a fallacy to claim that small businesses are unable to pay.
He said they have fewer workers and their labour cost is not higher than big companies, claiming that SMEs are a pampered lot and they even have a dedicated ministry and many government agencies to look after their interests.
“It will also be an implementation disaster as many employers are split into separate legal entities and associate companies and hence qualify as small business when in reality they are significant employers. It will lead to abuses,” Lo said.
“We therefore demand that the new minimum wage must apply to every employee throughout the nation,” he said.
Lo, however, said MTUC Sarawak Division welcomes the announcement that minimum wage will be increased to RM1,500, with effect from May 1, but is concerned that the minimum wage policy has been hijacked for political expediency.
He added the minimum wage policy with the enactment of the NWCCA was implemented as one of the policy tools to push Malaysia towards a high income nation.
He said the minimum wage policy is intended to ensure that the basic needs of workers and their families are met, protect them from exploitation, and to incentivise firms to move up the value chain by investing in technology and boosting productivity.
“The minimum wage policy is envisaged to have an important role in addressing inefficiencies in the labour market, and in improving the social welfare of low-paid workers,” he said.
In his winding-up speech at the Umno general assembly on March 19, Ismail Sabri announced that Malaysia will implement the RM1,500 minimum wage starting May 1.
He said the government has approved the implementation of the new minimum wage rate of RM1,500 per month for the entire country.
However, he said the Human Resources Ministry will hold discussions with the Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Ministry to allow small and micro companies to postpone the implementation of the minimum wage, as they might not have the ability to pay.
Source: https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2022/03/21/mtuc-sarawak-says-minimum-wage-policy-must-cover-all-types-of-companies-inc/2048673