the blogging syed shahir

Malaysiakini

MTUC condemns the government’s move to bail out Valuecap to support the local stock market using RM5 billion from EPF, as the provident fund is the custodian of the workers’ money and not some sort of ‘automated teller machine’ for the government.

If at all the EPF were to lend its money to the government, it has to be under the condition that there be transparency and accountability in the activities for which the money has been purposed.

We want to know who is doing what with the money that belongs to the workers. This is the hard-earned money of the workers, their retirement plan. How is this bailout plan going to benefit the workers?

We also question the reason for this bailout. If the economic fundamentals in Malaysia are strong and reserves sufficient as has been stated several times by the government, then why is there a need to offer so much money to the GLCs?

Second Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop should prove how the EPF would profit from this loan. Bernama had reported that Nor had given the assurance that the loan given out by EPF would reap profits for the fund judging from Valuecap’s past performance.

But where is the paperwork and calculations to show that this move will benefit the EPF? MTUC is concerned that the loan might be mismanaged or misused and this, in turn, would affect the returns for the contributors.

Mere assurances are not enough. We want to proof that this RM5 billion will not go down the drain.

(The writer is president, MTUC).

Utusan Online

KUALA LUMPUR 21 Okt. - Kebanyakan pekerja tempatan tidak berminat bekerja di beberapa sektor seperti pembinaan ataupun perladangan kerana gaji yang dibayar oleh majikan adalah tidak munasabah iaitu kurang RM500 sebulan.

Presiden Kongres Kesatuan Sekerja Malaysia (MTUC), Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud berkata, selain itu, majikan pula memberi alasan bahawa pekerja tempatan tidak berminat dan mengamalkan sikap terlalu memilih pekerjaan.

Menurut beliau, pihaknya mendapati isu gaji adalah masalah utama yang mendorong warga asing ‘mencuri’ peluang pekerjaan di negara ini.

‘’Ini kerana golongan itu tidak mengambil berat pasal upah ataupun kemudahan yang ditawarkan kepada mereka, manakala pekerja tempatan terpaksa menjadi ‘penganggur’ ekoran tindakan segelintir majikan yang tidak prihatin dalam masalah gaji.

‘’Warga tempatan terpaksa mengambil kira masalah gaji ekoran kos sara hidup yang terlalu tinggi sejak kebelakangan ini,'’ katanya ketika dihubungi Utusan Malaysia di sini hari ini.

NST Online

BUTTERWORTH: The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has called on the government to warn employers not to use the current world economic crisis to deprive workers of benefits like bonuses and claims.
MTUC president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamed said yesterday the warning was necessary to ensure employers did not blatantly victimise workers using the crisis as an excuse.

“They should be warned not to cut allowances and bonuses or reduce operations by reducing working hours.”

Syed Shahir also urged the government to clarify what was in store for the people instead of repeating that the fundamentals of the country were strong.

He urged the government to monitor the situation and prepare contingencies to protect the interest of workers before the situation deteriorated.

Star Online

BUTTERWORTH: Employers should not use the global economic crisis as an excuse to deprive workers of their rights, said MTUC president Syed Shahir Syed Mohd.

He said employers should find ways to deal with any impending economic problems instead of taking advantage of their workers.

So far, the movement had not received any complaints from workers deprived of their rights caused by the global economic crisis.

“We hope employers will come out with contingency plans to protect their workers instead of instituting retrenchment or depriving workers of their rights.

“Unfortunately, the Government has not stated what is in store for the people other than repeating that our fundamentals are strong,” Syed Shahir told reporters during a visit to the MTUC Penang office yesterday.

He said it was clear the crisis was the result of governments pursuing a free market policy in support of big capital and big businesses.

Syed Shahir said MTUC was concerned that employers would ask workers to make sacrifices, adding that the union was not prepared to accept any unfair burden imposed on workers.

“The Government should closely monitor the situation and prepare for contingencies. It should also take urgent pro-active measures to protect the interests of workers,” he said.

MTUC has some 500,000 members under 240 affiliations nationwide.

By SIM LEOI LEOI (Star Online)

PUTRAJAYA: The days of low wages for workers in the electronics and textile sectors may soon be over.

The Human Resources Ministry has given a directive for a wage council to be set up to look into the salaries of workers in both these sectors after receiving complaints that they “consistently received low wages.”

Its minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said several commission of inquiries and wage councils had been formed previously to look into issues of minimum wages for workers in several sectors, such as security guards, clinic assistants, hotel and catering and general workers in small holdings.

“The ministry is currently undertaking steps to look into wages in the electronics and textile sectors. The wage council will conduct a nationwide inquiry by interviewing workers in these two industries and come up with recommendations.

“We hope they will be able to finish their work by the end of next year,” he told reporters Tuesday after receiving a memorandum on minimum wage from MTUC at his office here in conjunction of the World Day for Decent Work.

A similar wage council had recently approved a minimum wage for private security guards of between RM250 to RM700 to help ease their burden.

Subramaniam said while the Government did not agree on the implementation of a minimum wage for all workers, it recognised that it was necessary to offer decent salaries as the country was losing its skilled employees to its competitors.

“We are losing our skilled workers to Singapore and the Middle East. We may end up losing even more so we must come up with attractive salaries as a way of persuading them to stay on.

“I have requested the Malaysian Employers’ Federation to come up with guidelines on what is the appropriate salary for workers in the different areas in the private sector and how to implement them,” he said, adding that the ministry would also continue to hold dialogues with both employers and workers in sectors, which were not covered by the work of such councils.

He said the ministry was also taking steps to reduce the presence of foreign workers in the country, adding that the Cabinet had agreed on reducing the numbers by at least 500,000 persons and was thinking of ways and means of accomplishing this without it affecting businesses and the economy.

MTUC president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud said the union would continue to pressure the Government on the issue of minimum wage of RM900 monthly for all workers despite the setting up of the wage councils.

“The wage councils are a separate issue for us and we are not against it. However, last year’s increase in salaries for civil servants have had a positive impact.

“So, we hope it’s time to give those working in the private sector a similar increase as well,” he said, adding that the memorandum also touched on the possible spillover effects of the financial crisis in United States and Europe on the workers here.

Besides minimum wage, the memorandum touched on issues such as unions and productivity-linked wage systems.

Star Online

PUTRAJAYA: A wage council has been set up to look into the low salaries of workers from the electronics and textile sectors.

“The wage council will conduct a nationwide inquiry by interviewing workers in these two industries and come up with recommendations on improving their wages,” said Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subrama­niam.

He said the ministry had been receiving complaints that workers in the two sectors “consistently received low wages.”

“We hope the wage council will be able to finish its work by the end of next year,” he told reporters after receiving a memorandum on minimum wage from MTUC at his office yesterday. The MTUC’s memoramdum was submitted in conjunction with World Day for Decent Work yesterday.

Dr Subramaniam said several commission of inquiries and wage councils had been formed previously to look into minimum wages of security guards, clinic assistants, hotel and catering staff and general workers from small holdings.

The wage council on security guards recently approved a minimum wage for private security guards of between RM250 and RM700 to help ease their burden.

Subramaniam said while the Government did not agree on the implementation of a minimum wage scheme for all workers, it recognised that it was necessary to offer decent salaries as the coun­try was losing its skilled employees to its competitors.

“I have requested the Malaysian Employers’ Federation to come up with guidelines on what is the appropriate salary for workers in the different areas in the private sector and how to implement them,” he said, adding that the ministry would continue to hold dialogues with both employers and workers from sectors not covered by the wage councils.

MTUC president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud said the union would continue to pressure the Government to compel employers to pay a monthly minimum wage of RM900 for all workers despite the setting up of wage councils.

By SIM LEOI LEOI (The Star)

PUTRAJAYA: The days of low wages for workers in the electronics and textile sectors may soon be over.

The Human Resources Ministry has given a directive for a wage council to be set up to look into the salaries of workers in both these sectors after receiving complaints that they “consistently received low wages.”

Its minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said several commission of inquiries and wage councils had been formed previously to look into issues of minimum wages for workers in several sectors, such as security guards, clinic assistants, hotel and catering and general workers in small holdings.

“The ministry is currently undertaking steps to look into wages in the electronics and textile sectors. The wage council will conduct a nationwide inquiry by interviewing workers in these two industries and come up with recommendations.

“We hope they will be able to finish their work by the end of next year,” he told reporters Tuesday after receiving a memorandum on minimum wage from MTUC at his office here in conjunction of the World Day for Decent Work.

A similar wage council had recently approved a minimum wage for private security guards of between RM250 to RM700 to help ease their burden.

Subramaniam said while the Government did not agree on the implementation of a minimum wage for all workers, it recognised that it was necessary to offer decent salaries as the country was losing its skilled employees to its competitors.

“We are losing our skilled workers to Singapore and the Middle East. We may end up losing even more so we must come up with attractive salaries as a way of persuading them to stay on.

“I have requested the Malaysian Employers’ Federation to come up with guidelines on what is the appropriate salary for workers in the different areas in the private sector and how to implement them,” he said, adding that the ministry would also continue to hold dialogues with both employers and workers in sectors, which were not covered by the work of such councils.

He said the ministry was also taking steps to reduce the presence of foreign workers in the country, adding that the Cabinet had agreed on reducing the numbers by at least 500,000 persons and was thinking of ways and means of accomplishing this without it affecting businesses and the economy.

MTUC president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud said the union would continue to pressure the Government on the issue of minimum wage of RM900 monthly for all workers despite the setting up of the wage councils.

“The wage councils are a separate issue for us and we are not against it. However, last year’s increase in salaries for civil servants have had a positive impact.

“So, we hope it’s time to give those working in the private sector a similar increase as well,” he said, adding that the memorandum also touched on the possible spillover effects of the financial crisis in United States and Europe on the workers here.

Besides minimum wage, the memorandum touched on issues such as unions and productivity-linked wage systems.