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?
These recommendations are contained in a memorandum which some 1,000 leaders
of the MTUC ,its affiliates, non-governmental organisations and residents’
associations will submit to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
at Parliament House on Monday.
<p>“This is the fifth time in two years the price of fuel has increased.
Malaysia’s inflation rate reached a six-year high of 3.7 per cent in August
2005 from 3 per cent in July 2005 when fuel prices were raised for the third
time.</p>
<p>“Therefore, further inflation is inevitable. Already, various sectors
have increased the price of their goods and services,” the memo said.</p>
<p>The group regretted that the Government made the unilateral decision to raise
fuel prices without consulting the congress or civil society organisations.</p>
<p>They said this went against the Prime Minister’s call to “work with
him and not for him”, adding that it was also a violation of the tripartite
process and social dialogue between the Government, labour and business in resolving
a critical national issue.</p>
<p>“We record our greatest regret in the Government’s unilateral decision
without considering the aspiration of workers and civil society.</p>
<p>“We fear that the budget will be balanced on the back of the working class.
Workers’ real wages will decrease. Workers and their families’ quality
of life and standard of living will be compromised. This has implications for
worsening income inequality and poverty in the country,’’ they added.</p>
<p>They stressed that the Government should instead increase social services spending
to overcome this inequality and resolve fundamental problems affecting the economy
such as wastage in the public sector, corruption, low wages and labour intensive
policy.</p>
<p>They also urged the Government to increase the taxation rate for the wealthiest
classes in Malaysia.</p>
<p>The memorandum also called for the accounts of Petronas to be open for public
scrutiny, adding that the profits from Petronas should be used to ease the burden
of the working class.</p>
<p>They also proposed that the Government re-negotiate all privatisation projects
such as the Independent Power Plants (IPP) contracts and PLUS, adding that the
concession agreements should be reviewed to reflect cost of operations and an
Internal Rate of Return that is acceptable.</p>
<p>They added that as Malaysia was a net exporter of oil and given the skyrocketing
oil prices in 2005, it should have been a major revenue earner for the Malaysian
Treasury.</p>
<p>“We believe that every Malaysian should benefit from this. To demand that
the working class change their lifestyles is insensitive to the plight of workers.</p>
<p>“This is because workers wages in the last few years has not kept up with
inflation. In addition, because of global competition, our workers are unable
to demand higher wages.”</p>
<p>They also said it was naive of the Government to compare fuel prices in Malaysia
against Singapore as Singaporeans earned wages three times higher than Malaysians.
Address: Wisma MTUC,10-5, Jalan USJ 9/5T, 47620 Subang Jaya,Selangor | Tel: 03-80242953 | Fax: 03-80243225 | Email: sgmtuc@gmail.com.com