Representatives from more than 40 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are planning to gather at the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) tomorrow morning to celebrate this year's Labour Day.

The group, comprising farmers, factory workers and urban settlers will meet at 10.30am to hear speeches and a reading of their 'People's Declaration'.

"May 1st has been officially recognised by the government since 1974 as a public holiday and a significant day for workers to celebrate," said the event's coordinator V Selvam, when asked whether or not the group had obtained a police permit.

"We use to gather at Dataran Merdeka since 1994. Workers are workers no matter what the political situation is," he told malaysiakini when contacted today.

Selvam said a letter to notify the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) of the gathering had been sent two weeks ago though a reply had not been received.

About 2,000 people are expected tomorrow, he added.

Picket supported

Parti Sosialis Malaysia president Dr Nasir Hashim said in a May Day press statement that May Day will act as an inspiration to all workers to continue struggling despite difficult socio-economic conditions ahead.

"Enough with rhetoric; the time has come for Malaysian workers to join forces to claim their rights. Rights which have been eroded by a government who loves the capitalists and detests workers who can think for themselves," said Nasir.

"Wherever you are, do something really meaningful so that you will feel proud to be a 'worker', and not like a slave during colonial times," he said.

He said PSM also supported the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) decision to picket on May 12 to protest against the Employees Provident Fund's alleged mismanagement of funds and poor investments.

Nasir said he hopes that MTUC will remain firm despite certain quarters, particularly the government and certain unions, trying to get the picket called off.

EPF 'fiascos'

DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang in his May Day message said this year's May Day resolution for all workers should be to "make the EPF with its RM185 billion directly accountable to its 9.7 million contributors and not just to one person, the Finance Minister or Prime Minister".

"Workers' confidence in the competence, professionalism, accountability, transparency and integrity of the EPF in the management of their funds has suffered unprecedented attacks by a whole catalogue of recent scandals and fiascos, to the extent that never have so many EPF contributors been so concerned about the safety and quality of their retirement savings," said Lim.

EPF has come under fire for several money-losing decisions recently, such as accepting Time dotCom's IPO shares above the market price to contra a loan repayment.

Early this year, EPF announced a six percent dividend rate, the lowest in 26 years. It attributed the low rate to 'unrealised losses' close to RM750 million.

Bailouts

Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) president Dr Syed Husin Ali said the government will not act firmly against anti-labour activities because in terms of ideology and practice, governments are not greatly concerned about the working class and peasants.

"They prefer to waste the country's wealth by building mega-projects and bailing out crony companies," he said in his May Day message which also pledged PRM's support for the MTUC picket.

"The amount of money used in bailouts is more than the RM1.5 billion allocated to hundreds and thousands of farmers, palm oil workers and rubber tappers," he added.