KUCHING | The RM1,500 minimum wage hike must be applied to everyemployee throughout the nation, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as adelay would be seen as discriminatory, demanded the Malaysian Trades Union Congress(MTUC) Sarawak Division.
MTUC Sarawak secretary Andrew Lo, in proposing this, emphasised that the cost of livingfor workers is the same no matter which employer they work for.
“A cup of coffee, a pack of nasi lemak, a bowl of mee or a litre of petrol costs the samewhether one is an employee of a GLC (government-linked company), a multinational bigcompany or a small business. They are all from the same ‘Keluarga Malaysia’ (MalaysianFamily).
“In fact most big companies provide other employment perks that SMEs do not provide.So workers of small businesses are already worse off,” he said in a statement today.
This came after Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Awang Hashim said thegovernment is considering allowing some micro businesses as well as SMEs to postponethe implementation of the minimum wage, as they might not have the ability to pay.
Lo was of the view that it would be a fallacy and an act of fear mongering to claim thatsmall businesses cannot accord to pay when they have fewer workers and their labourcost is not higher than big companies.
“SMEs are a pampered lot and they even have a dedicated ministry and manygovernment agencies to look after their interests,” he said.
In Malaysia, he pointed out that real wages have recorded slower growth compared toreal labour productivity.
“When wages have been artificially suppressed below productivity levels, it would lead tolow labour participation rates in the economy and brain drain, as workers have lessincentive to find employment inside the country.
“In fact wages have been suppressed at such low levels that local workers weredisplaced by low-waged foreign workers.
“We have no doubt that the social economic data supports the increase to RM1,500. Assuch we are very disturbed that the government intends to allow small and microcompanies to postpone the implementation of the minimum wage,” he said.
While MTUC Sarawak welcomes the announcement of the minimum wage hike with effectfrom May 1, 2022, Lo however expressed concerns that the National Minimum Wagepolicy has been hijacked for political expediency.
He noted that the minimum wage policy with the enactment of the National WagesConsultative Council Act (NWCC) was implemented as one of the policy tools to pushMalaysia towards a high income nation.
“The minimum wage policy is intended to ensure that the basic needs of workers andtheir families are met, protect them from exploitation, and to incentivise firms to moveup the value chain by investing in technology and boosting productivity.”
Furthermore, Lo pointed out that deferring the new minimum wage ruling for SMEs andmicro business will also be an implementation disaster as many employers would be splitinto separate legal entities and associate companies and hence qualify as small businesswhen in reality they are significant employers.
“It will lead to abuse. We therefore demand that the new minimum wage must beapplied to every employee throughout the nation,” he added.
