June 15, 2011
'Menteri kaya, tapi rakyat miskin' were among the slogans that reveberated outside the Parliament building this morning.
KUALA LUMPUR: Several NGOs today held a short protest outside the Parliament compound before handing over a memorandum demanding that the government stop stalling the implementation of minimum wage.
Workers’ rights group Jaringan Rakyat Tertindas (Jerit) and Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) led the protest, participated by some 100 NGO representatives against the National Wage Consultative Bill which was to be tabled at this Parliament sitting.
The protest, which lasted some 30 minutes, was held under the watchful eyes of some 50 policemen, including Light Strike Force personnel.
The protesters carried banners and shouted slogans such as, “Harga naik tapi gaji tak naik (price increases but wages do not increase)” and “Menteri kaya tapi rakyat miskin (ministers are rich but the people are poor).”
Several MPs, led by PSM’s Sungai Siput rep Dr Michael Jayakumar, accompanied about 10 representatives to enter Parliament to submit their memorandum.
‘No more excuses’
“We are very disappointed with the government. They have said that they will implement minimum wage but until today we don’t see anything. And now the government is more interested in having a consultative body,” PSM treasurer A Sivarajan told reporters.
“This consultative body has no enforcement power but only power to recommend. We have been fighting for this issue for the past 20 years. This consultative body is merely to stall the implementation of minimum wage,” he added.
The bill was to be tabled during this session but had not been included in the list to be debated.
Sivarajan insisted that the government should not even bother with such a body and drew a reference to the 1947 National Wage Council which he claimed was ineffective in establishing minimum wage.
He also said that they were wary of the amount that would be set as minimum wage as it might be too low.
Citing the case of security guards, the PSM leader said: “The minister of human resources himself conceded that RM720 was the general poverty level and that these guards were earning less than that. But he announced recently that they will be paid at least around RM550.”
“They will just talk politics and say that they have implemented minimum wage. But the actual amount is very little,” he said, stressing that an acceptable amount was one of their demands.
Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) vice-president for the private sector Mohd Roszeli Majid, who also attended the protest, said that although NGOs differed on the amount for minimum wage, they were all united for the struggle to establish minimum wage.
“No more rhetoric and no more political games. Just implement minimum wage,” he said.
The memorandum was handed to representatives of the Prime Minister’s Department, the Opposition Leader, Minister of Human Resources, Malaysian Parliamentary Caucus for Labour and Migrant Workers and the Backbenchers Club.
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/06/15/protesters-demand-minimum-wage/
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