PETALING JAYA | Three workers’ rights groups have hit out at the Malaysian Employers’ Federation (MEF) for attempting to paint the minimum wage as being more beneficial to foreign employees than local ones.
In a joint statement, Sarawak Bank Employees Union, UNI Malaysia Labour Centre and Labour Law Reform Coalition said they were “extremely annoyed at this thinly-veiled attempt to paint the increase in the minimum wage as being beneficial to foreign workers instead of local ones, creating fear and resentment”.
Earlier today, MEF executive director Shamsuddin Bardan estimated that the increase in minimum wages would add RM2.5 billion yearly in remittances that the foreign workers will send home to their home countries.
This, he argued, would add about 7% to the estimated RM34 billion annually being remitted home by the foreign workers and impact the strength of the ringgit.
Shamsuddin also said that employers are forced to depend on “more expensive foreign workers” due to the shortage of manpower in certain sectors.
The three groups, however, argued that employers here were to blame for demanding that 30% of the workforce comprise of foreign workers.
“If there is no demand, there will be no supply.”
They also slammed Shamsuddin for citing the retrenchment of employees in the media industry when arguing against the implementation of the RM1,200 minimum wage in 57 bigger cities and towns from next year.
The minimum wage for non-urban areas, small towns and rural areas will remain at the present rate of RM1,100.
Shamsuddin had said that it would cause much “confusion and anxiety” among the employers and the employees as the demarcation of boundaries for the 57 towns were unclear.
But the three groups accused MEF of fear-mongering, saying none of those retrenched was earning the minimum wage.
“The retrenchment in the media industry has nothing do with the minimum wage but is a consequence of failure to adapt to the technological and changing landscape.”
