How is the economic crisis affecting the large migrant population in Malaysia? In Part 2, G Rajasekaran, general secretary of the MTUC (1), talks to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) about various issues affecting domestic workers. Today he gives his views on the disparity in wages between Indonesians and Filipinos.

ITUC: Does the situation of migrant domestic workers vary according to their nationality.

G Rajasekaran: Filipino domestic workers have a clear contract stipulating their working hours, living conditions, number of leave days and the minimum wage, etc. Their minimum wage is currently RM1,200 whilst Indonesians only receive RM450 to RM500. It would seem that the Philippine government has a serious interest in protecting its migrants, unlike the Indonesian government.


domestic maids 070606 cookingOnly 15,000 out of the 300,000 domestic workers in Malaysia are Filipinos. The rest are largely Indonesians are brought here through recruiters. The employers contact an agent who asks for RM8,000 ringgit, a large sum that they then deduct from the domestic workers wage for about six months.

So, if she gets RM500 a month, she will have only reimbursed RM3,000 to her employer by the end of six months. It's extremely unfair, as it means they have to work 16 hours a day, every day, without any pay.


The crisis will probably make things worse for domestic workers, who are particularly vulnerable.

No, because their situation cannot get any worse, they are always treated in the worst possible way. There are, of course, some employers who treat their domestic help as if she were part of the family, but that is rare.

It is astonishing to see how badly domestic workers are treated by employers who are often ordinary workers themselves.

It is inconsiderate. They never put themselves in their shoes. When we say that a domestic worker does a 15-hour day, the employer sees it differently. For him, sweeping up and cleaning the house are not arduous tasks.

They don't understand that people need time for themselves, on Sundays, for example. From the employer's perspective, if they leave the house and meet other people their minds will be corrupted by other ideas and they will no longer work in the same way.

If the ILO adopts a new international convention on domestic work, would it help the MTUC in the fight to protect domestic workers?

Yes, because Malaysia usually respects international conventions and it does not like having international bodies calling its attention to situations where it allows exploitation.

So we hope that this new convention will be adopted but, unfortunately, we would only start to see the benefits in another two years. The debate will be launched in 2010 and if an agreement is reached, the convention will not come into being until 2011.

In the meantime, we are doing all we can to take this campaign into as many homes as possible, so that they do something on their own initiative, such as giving one day off a week.

I have suggested that NGOs linked to religious movements that they should ask the priests, the imams, and so on, to talk about these social issues. If more and more households move in this direction, the government will find it easier to back laws in this area.

How are your partnerships on migrants going with unions outside Malaysia?

We have established a partnership with the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (CITU).

The CITU has to try and meet as many people as possible before their departure, make them aware of their rights and tell them where to go (the MTUC, for example) if they have a problem.

Indonesia is a large country and many who migrate do not have the time to talk to their union before leaving. The union itself does not have the infrastructure or the resources needed to reach these candidates, who number in the millions.

We also communicate with the CITU regarding problems encountered by Indonesian workers in Malaysia, so that they can follow up on them with their own government.

Until now, we have noticed that the Indonesian embassy shows little interest when we contact it over problems encountered by migrant workers, unlike the Philippine embassy.

We are also cooperating with the Nepalese union GEFONT, although we have not actually signed a formal agreement with it.

It informs us when Nepalese migrants come up against problems in Malaysia, and we do the same so that GEFONT can bring it to its government’s attention.

What kind of regional policy could be drawn up by trade unions to meet the challenges, like in Malaysia, by this essentially regional migration?

The ITUC regional organisation for Asia-Pacific (ITUC-AP) could play a larger role in co-ordinating the work on migration in the region, and it is committed to doing so.

The MTUC can help migrant workers who come to Malaysia, but we cannot solve the problem of the large sums of money they have to pay before leaving their countries. We need the help of the unions from their countries of origin to do this.

The ITUC-AP could push them in this direction, as they are all affiliated to the ITUC, with the exception of Vietnam, which also sends migrants to Malaysia ( the MTUC has very good relations with the Vietnamese General Confederation of Labour).

What impact does working on migration issues have on the image of the MTUC?

Fifteen years ago, people asked why we should worry about all these migrants who contributed to keeping wages low, etc. Over the last seven or eight years, we have worked hard towards changing this attitude among unions and our members.

We explain that if migrants obtain a permit to come to Malaysia, we have to do everything we can to ensure that they enjoy the same rights as the nationals. The cost per worker should be the same for all. People are starting to fully understand the importance of this approach.

When we asked the government to put a freeze on all new permits following the economic crisis, our members realised that whilst the MTUC helps migrants, it also does everything it can to ensure that Malaysian workers are protected.

Are some companies calling collective agreements into question because of the crisis?

Under our system, when a collective agreement is concluded, it remains valid for three years. Many employers are, however, trying to attack variable elements, such as cutting annual bonuses from two months to one month's pay, for example.

They cannot impose it unilaterally – there has to be an agreement with the social partners or otherwise, we could go before a labour court to have the clause of the agreement applied.

So some companies come to us for help. When they are companies that have always been open to dialogue and have always been generous with the workers during the good times, the unions are happy to help them during the bad times.

However, if companies making huge profits in the past used the agreement providing for a bonus equal to two months' pay as a pretext for not giving any more, we also demand that the agreement be respected when the tables are turned.


The above article is courtesy of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).