http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/IG18Ae01.html Jul 18, 2007
Minimum wage row flares in Malaysia By Anil Netto PENANG, Malaysia - This country's umbrella trade-union body is pressing ahead with its campaign for a minimum wage despite the government's stand that such a benchmark would put off foreign investors seeking a low-cost environment. The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has stepped up its eight-year-long campaign, which would mainly benefit private-sector workers, after the government awarded hefty pay raises to civil servants in May that in effect lifted junior-ranking staff above the official poverty line. The general council of the MTUC, a federation of unions representing all major industries and sectors with a total of about 500,000 members, is due to meet this Thursday to discuss its next move. "I don't want to preempt my colleagues on the council, but I would say sentiment is brewing," said Abdul Razak Abdul Hamid, the MTUC's Penang division chairman. "The grassroots feel that something should be done by the government." In a rare show of strength, on June 25 the MTUC staged a national picket demonstration as hundreds of workers gathered at more than a dozen locations across the country. In mainland Penang, the turnout exceeded organizers' expectations as some 1,000 workers gathered along a busy thoroughfare near the Prai Industrial Estate. Workers waved placards that read, "Don't marginalize workers," "Toll up, sugar up, Astro [pay TV] up, wages not up," "Thailand, Indonesia [have] minimum wage - Malaysia has none," and "Workers are suffering from price increases," Gopal, an electrical workers' union representative at the demonstration, said, "Most factories in this area are paying a basic [monthly] salary of as low as RM350," or US$101. Unionists have maintained that employers are taking advantage of the absence of a minimum wage to suppress wages and exploit workers. They note that tens of thousands of lowly paid private sector workers earn monthly wages ranging from RM300-450. Such paltry wages fall well below the official poverty line monthly income of RM691 in peninsular Malaysia, RM765 in Sarawak state and RM888 in Sabah. "Even five-star hotels in Kuala Lumpur pay a basic wage of RM290 per month to cleaners and waiters," noted the MTUC in a memorandum urging Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi to introduce a minimum wage. The MTUC is asking the government to introduce a minimum monthly wage of RM900 (about $260) and a cost-of-living allowance of RM300. It points out that the minimum wage they are requesting is less than the total monthly income earned by the lowest-ranking civil servants, which is now above RM1,000. The MTUC's demands may have some justification. Analysts have pointed out that an individual would have to earn at least RM1,200-1,500 to live in dignity in urban areas such as Kuala Lumpur, where rentals, food prices and transport costs have soared in recent times. A decent minimum wage, the MTUC says, would attract more Malaysian workers and reduce the growing national dependence on foreign labor. Migrants in the middle Not so, counters Human Resources Minister Fong Chan Onn. He said that a RM900 minimum wage would lead to a surge in migrant workers from neighboring countries, as Malaysian wages would rise well above the average pay in those places. He pointed out that a minimum wage would mean paying the same amount to the 1.5 million legal foreign workers already here. "The minister has inadvertently let the cat out of the bag," an academic closely following the issue said. "The government has always claimed that foreign workers are only employed here on the same conditions as local workers, that foreign workers are not being used to keep the wage rate down," the academic said. "Now, [the minister] objects to a minimum wage rate as it would mean that foreign workers would have to be paid the same as locals." This, he concluded, means that the Malaysian labor market has been "distorted by the import of foreign workers to deliberately keep down the wage rate". Government officials have also expressed concern that a minimum wage would push up operating costs and drive foreign investors to Indochina, China and India. "We are as concerned about workers' wages, but we must ensure we remain competitive in the global context as well," said Fong. As an alternative to a minimum wage, he said that a survey involving more than half a million employees is being carried out to identify the lowest-paying jobs in the country. The Human Resources Ministry will then establish special wage councils to regulate wages in the lowest-paying sectors, he said. The MTUC stepped up its campaign after the prime minister announced a hefty pay raise for 1.2 million civil servants, ranging from 7.5-42%, which took effect on July 1. He also announced a 100% increase in the cost-of-living allowances. Those in the lower ranks received the largest hikes in percentage terms, lifting the monthly income of the lowest-paid civil servants above RM1,000. In justifying the wage hikes, Abdullah said the government "acknowledges the higher cost of living and is always sensitive to the impact of rising prices, especially on the lower-income groups". Cynics, however, pointed out that the government could go to the polls soon - though its term does not expire until 2009. Whatever the motive, unionists point out that low-income private-sector workers have suffered because there have been no major corresponding adjustments in their wages to reflect the higher cost of living. Union leaders argue that the government must have carried out an in-depth study of the cost of living and its impact on wage earners before raising civil servants' wages and allowances. "So there is no reason why the wages of 8 million workers in the private sector should be suppressed," said the MTUC's Abdul Razak. The aforementioned academic, meanwhile, said a minimum wage would be a far more effective tool in redistributing income in favor of the poor. Many of these poor people are economically disadvantaged ethnic Malays, the main beneficiaries of the government's New Economic Policy (NEP) affirmative-action policies aimed at reducing inter-ethnic disparities. A controversial focus of such policies has been the required 30% ethnic Malay and other indigenous ownership in companies - an approach that over the decades has concentrated wealth in the hands of a small group, thus contributing to widening intra-ethnic inequalities. He pointed out that about one-third of ethnic Malays employed fall at the bottom of the occupational hierarchy. At the June 25 demonstration in Penang, for instance, most of the protesters were ethnic Malay workers, with a sprinkling of Indians and Chinese. "If the government is really serious about closing the inter-ethnic income gap, an effective way to do so would be to see that those at the bottom get a better income - not screaming and shouting about shares in companies and ownership of commercial buildings, both of which are out of reach of the vast majority of the people," he said. (Inter Press Service) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! 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