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NGOs calls for minimum wage policy now
The Star - June 16, 2011
The country needs a minimum wage policy of between RM1,200 and RM1,500 rather than a National Minimum Wage Consultative Act, which several groups here said amounted to "a step backwards".
About 50 NGO representatives with placards gathered at Jalan Parlimen to ask for the policy to be implemented immediately and to voice their opposition to the Act. Police, however, denied them entry into Parliament House.
Several group members later distributed copies of their memorandum on the issue to Opposition MPs at the Parliament lobby.
Parti Sosialis Malaysia treasurer Selvarajan A. said: "It appears to us that a consultative council, just like the Wage Council 1947, will have no power to enforce a minimum wage policy.
"The council will only carry out studies before making recommendations to the Government on what is the line for a minimum wage.
"This, to us, is only eyewash to prolong the process of enforcing the minimum wage policy," Selvarajan said.
He added that considering the current inflation rate, the minimum wage for workers must be not less than RM1,500 to bring them above the urban poverty line.
MTUC vice-president Mohd Roszali Majid said the congress supports any party that champions a minimum wage for workers.
"What we want is an immediate implementation of a minimum wage, not rhetoric.
"MTUC was previously invited to contribute in a workshop relating to the Act, yet the Government has not made any implementation," Mohd Roszali said.
Other NGOs that supported the memorandum included Jaringan Rakyat Tertindas (Jerit), Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia and the Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram).
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had told an MTUC-organised Workers Day dinner on Tuesday that the Act would be tabled during the current Parlia-ment session and, once approved, the minimum wage could be implemented by the end of the year.
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