KUALA LUMPUR: MTUC has ex-pressed its disappointment over the National Minimum Wage Act which it claims does not differ very much from the Wages Council Act, which has been in force since 1947.
In a statement yesterday, MTUC secretary-general Abdul Halim Mansor said the proposed Natio-nal Wages Consultatives Council Bill, which was awaiting approval of the Parliament, did not meet trade unions' expectations.
He said the wages council, to be set up under the new Act, would be powerless and ineffective while the Human Resources Minister would wield absolute power to accept or reject any recommendation made by the council.
“The minister can continue to frustrate millions of lowly-paid workers by refusing to accept the council's advice and delay the implementation of a decent minimum wage,” he said, adding that the ministry can also arbitrarily reduce the rates.
He said based on the Human Resources Minister's proposal, workers' representation in the wages council would be less than 20%.
“In appointing the members of the council, the minister is not obliged to consult MTUC or organisation of employers and he is empowered to remove any member of the council,” he said.
Abdul Halim said despite studying the various wages council models in other countries, the proposed bill was not aimed at implementing a national minimum wage but instead, wages would be determined by sector, category and region
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/6/30/nation/8999674&sec=nation
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