RM1,000 minimum wage 'will increase productivity'

The government has been urged to implement a Minimum Wage Act that will ensure the uniformity in minimum wages for all private sector workers in the country.

DAP vice-president M Kulasegaran (left) says that the government has defined the poverty line as RM1,200 a month per household in the Third Outline Perspective Plan 2001-2010.

"So it should introduce a Minimum Wage Act that imposes a minimum wage of RM1,000 and cost of living allowance (COLA) of RM200 per month for all employees in the country," he proposed.

"A minimum wage of RM1,000 will increase the productivity of workers which will increase the purchasing power of all Malaysians that will in turn improve the economy of the country," he says.

"The Human Resources Ministry should give priority to the welfare of its Malaysian workers instead of playing second fiddle to foreign investors and local employers.

"The ministry's hands are practically twisted to meet their unreasonable demands such as low wages and unreasonable working conditions at the work places.

"Many employers are so greedy that they are not even happy with the low wages given to Malaysians but also insist on employing foreign workers to replace local employees at a much lower wages," Kula pointed out.

"In the past, we have seen towkay MCA ministers in the Human Resources Ministry playing a capitalist role in the employment sector. So can we see a change in the ministry's policy with a MIC minister at the helm?" he asked.

Ensuring fair and just wages

Kula was responding to Human Resources Minister Dr S Subramaniam statement that his ministry will soon review the Wages Council Act 1947 that will ensure thousands of workers in the private sector get higher salaries which include those in the security, hospitality, electronic and textile sectors.

The minister also said that the Wages Council had been activated to review salaries in several sectors.

Kula said, "All private sector workers in the country should be equally treated with this minimum scale of wages of RM1,200 across the board.

"The government should not segregate the workers into categories and give different levels of wages that would only work to the advantage of employers."

Mahathir backs minimum wage

However, Kula argued that the Wages Council has not been effective in ensuring fair and just pay for the nation's workers.

He said the fact that the previous review was conducted about a decade ago had not been successfully implemented.

"What we need is a Minimum Wage Act which will ensure reasonable wage for the workers who have contributed tremendously to the nation's economic growth and development.

"Former human resources minister Fong Chan On had stated that the government's rejection of imposing minimum wages for workers was because it would impede foreign competition and discourage foreign investment in Malaysia.

"However, many countries like Japan and USA do have minimum wages but yet their economy is doing better than us. So the Minimum Wage Act is feasible, contrary to claims by the government," he said.

Labour reps, including the Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) had called for the setting up of a minimum wage structure in the private sector but it has fallen on deaf ears.

Yesterday, former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad joined the litany in calling for better a wage structure in the private sector to increase production and boost the economy of the country.

And keeping to his inimitable rhetoric, Mahathir said that wages must increase according to the work output of the labour force.