Workers picket despite govt retreat

SHAH ALAM: Although government withdrew the Bill to amend the Employment Act 2010 this morning, the protests against the proposed amendments did not fizzle out.

Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) joined forces with other NGOs to hold several pickets across the country to voice their unhappiness against the proposed changes which they feel would greatly reduce their rights in the workplace.

The protests were not only directed against the Employment (Amended) Act but also against other labour laws such as the Industrial Relations Act and Trade Unions Act.

The picketings were originally planned on a larger scale but after the tabling of the amendments was postponed, organisers broke them into smaller demonstrations in various locations in Selangor and Perak.

More than 20 people, including representatives of the Oppressed People's Network (Jerit), gathered in support of the protest in Shah Alam at about 5pm.

Fewer than 10 policemen were present.

People's victory

Meanwhile, PSM said the proposed amendments were withdrawn due to pressure from workers' rights groups and called it a “people's victory”.

However, PSM chairman Mohd Nasir Hashim expressed his frustration over the government's approach to workers' rights.

“Why doesn't the government consult the people first (about the amendments)?” he asked.

“The BN-led government doesn't care about what the people think,” he said. Nasir, who is also Kota Damansara state assemblyman, said the amendments favoured employers more than the workers.

'Unlikely government will back down'

According to a brochure distributed by Jerit, some of the amendments propose reducing termination notices to four weeks and allowing flexible working hours to be set according to the employer's whim and fancy.

It also said that overtime payments can be delayed by as many as 30 days. But Nasir said these payments have to be settled by the employer within the first week of every month.

The proposed amendments would allegedly also give less power to worker's unions. Employers would be given the power to demand the re-registration of a union after a five-year period.

Besides, executives and security personnel of a company would be barred from joining unions.

Human Resources Minister S Subramaniam said the Bill was withdrawn to add “more things” but he refused to divulge. He denied the postponement was due to workers' protest.

Meanwhile, PSM criticised the government for allowing subsidies allocated to corporations to continue, while cutting off other subsidies for the poor.

It also demanded that the government not only remove these amendments, but also implement a minimum wage as well as drop its plans for a Goods and Services Tax.

However, Nasir said it was unlikely the government would back down. “The government has been see-sawing on this (minimum wage) for many years,” he said. “It doesn't want to change anything that is not favourable to employers.”

He was also not happy with the Selangor government, saying that he had written many times to the state government asking for government-linked companies (GLCs) to pay their workers a minimum wage.

He had been told that minimum wage was a federal matter, and that the state had no power to make a decision.

“Time dotCom is a GLC, and it can pay its workers a minimum wage. If I had a company, I would be able to pay my workers a minimum wage,” he said.

“Why can't the Selangor government do it? Why is it calling it the prerogative of the federal government?”

FMT had reported that the Human Resources Ministry would table a minimum wage bill this month.

Nasir also said many workers were not aware of their rights. “People in Malaysia are subservient, and have a slave mentality,” he said.