MTUC Demands For Minimum Wages

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 12 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) is demanding a minimum monthly wage of RM900 for the 10 million private sector workers.

Its general secretary, G. Rajasekaran, said the congress' demand was justified, in view of the fact the the government itself had acknowledged that the cost of living had gone up and wages needed to be increased.

This was reflected in the case of government pensioners whose minimum pension had now been fixed at RM720 per month.

"When pensioners could be paid that (amount), what about active workers who incur transportation, food and lodging costs? Can they survive on RM300 to RM400 a month," he asked.

In fact, Labour director-general Datuk Ismail Abdul Rahim's announcement yesterday that wages in the manufacturing sector had increased to between RM650 to RM700 from RM450 previously, further showed that the hike was necessary to attract local workers.

He said, MTUC had been "fighting" for a minimum wage in the past 15 years and was being reasonable in maintaining RM900, although the cost of living over the years had increased tremendously.