Malaysia is one of Asia's biggest employers of foreign labour. But recently, cases of deaths, abuse and forced labour have come to light. What is going on? Who is protecting these migrant workers?
“Religion has played a big part in shaping the country’s policies.
Now religion is being used to weaken workers’ movements as well,”
added the source who works closely with trade unions.
<p>The government is said to be backing the Islamic Union Federation of Malaysia
(PPIM) whose registration is pending an approval from the Registrar of Society
(ROS).</P>
<p>The source said a religion-based union in a country where religion is constantly
exploited to rake in votes, will counter the influence of MTUC which is seen
as an opposition-dominated body.</p>
<p>“If you form an Islamic-based federation of unions, the mere mention of
Islam itself will draw Muslim workers to join and when the concept of Islam
is controlled by a certain political party, it won’t be difficult to control
them (Muslim workers),” he reasoned.</p>
<p><b>Deputy minister involved</b></p>
<p>The source also claimed that Deputy Human Resources Minister Abdul Rahman Bakar
was behind the alleged conspiracy.</p>
<p>“Even though some said he (Abdul Rahman) was merely applauding PPIM’s
establishment, we have credible information that he was behind its formation
right from the start,” he said. </p>
<p>The source pointed out that Abdul Rahman had been vocal in his criticisms against
MTUC and one occasion even accused it of being an “opposition tool to incite
hatred towards the government.”</p>
<p>The deputy minister has also accused the MTUC leadership of having a strong
socialist leaning and stressed that the Barisan Nasional-led government has
zero-tolerance for left wing ideologies.</p>
<p>Several well-known union leaders were also implicated in the alleged conspiracy
against MTUC, which represents more than 500,000 private sector workers in the
country and has more than 200 affiliate bodies.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the source said these individuals were allegedly ‘pro-establishment’
and were currently helming ‘yellow’ unions.</p>
<p>‘Yellow’ unions refer to bureaucratic and passive unions while ‘red’
unions are more aggressive in their tactics pertaining to engagement with employers.</p>
<p><b>Internal politics</b></p>
<p>The source further claimed that the alleged internal feud in MTUC was also
a factor in the alleged conspiracy.</p>
<p>“So Abdul Rahman gathered all those who were opposed to incumbent president
Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud (photo) to form an alliance to weaken the MTUC president
and the MTUC as a whole,” he claimed.</p>
<p>On the ROS approval for PPIM, the source said the green light would be given
after the MTUC elections in December.</p>
<p>“This is because they know Shahir will win in the elections. The kill
is when PPIM finally becomes a recognised labour entity.</p>
<p>“This is when the Muslim members of MTUC will jump over to PPIM,”
he explained.</p>
<p>Abdul Rahman could not be contacted for comment. Syed Shahir, on the other
hand, said he would be responding on this matter later this week.</p>
<p><i>Source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/72515</i>
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