24 June, 2011
Urgency for action to prevent the Bill
Charles Santiago (Klang MP), Syed Sharir (Ex-MTUC chief), Roszeli (MTUC) and Irene (PSWS) made quick responses to it in a press conference yesterday. We have got a copy of the Bill and are sending it out for your information. We are calling for a meeting to discuss our responses and actions to this Bill on today at 3.30 p.m.. The Bill will be debated on Monday or Tuesday and that is why we are rushing. The Pakatan MPs will discuss their strategy as regards this Bill today and we were told that they will be advised to oppose it. We on our part need to make it clear to the government that we oppose it as well. The trade unions of course have a great influence if they choose to show their opposition to it. Otherwise the Bill will probably be passed in this session as the BN has majority.
Employers angry coz - to pay hefty fine
As you will see the Bill is extrememly useless on all points. In addition it has irked the opposition of the Employers by specifiying a fine of RM 10,000 for non-compliance for each worker who is paid less than the minimum wage and the employers are reacting. This will give the Minister an excuse to cut down or remove this clause.
Irene Xavier
President, PSWS
22 June, 2011
Yesterday Parliament had its first taste of the National Wages Consultative Council (NWCC) Bill. This morning we were in Parliament to have a press conference where we collected the Bill and after having a look at it ... its a useless piece of legislation ... it does not support a minimum wage for workers!
This is why its a useless Bill?
1. It does not have a definition of a minimum wage.
2. The minister has absolute power to reject the wage recommendations of the NWCC.
3. The minister is the one who chooses who should be in this Council - how can this be fair to workers? The Minister made a fiasco of minimum wage of security guards by paying them below the poverty line of RM720. How can we trust the Minister?
4. The Council is merely a research tool for the Minister! It has no power... no teeth!
5. The minimum wage varies according to area, type of work, etc - this is unacceptable. There should be just one decent living wage.
Tripartite Council
Charles Santiago, MP for Klang suggested in today's press conference a working model for a Council based on the Korean experience. The Council, has representatives from the employers and the unions. Both these parties will choose members from the government or from the academia to be the third party to negotiate the decent living wage. The Council suggests a figure to the Minister and if the Minister rejects it, it returns to the Council for debate and the figure they propose has to be approved for implementation. This system helps the employers and employees to come to a workable figure and if they are at loggerheads the third party helps to sort out issues. It is a fair system of negotiation than the present lobbying of the Minister by the employers.
How can the government drag its leg on this? The World Bank has reported that wages in Malaysia has increased only by 2.3% per annum. This is pathetic!!!!
Thursday, 23 June 2011
Sexual Harassment - Recent Amendments to Employment Act
Press Statement
Section on Sexual Harassment Amendments to the Employment Act, Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor welcomes the inclusion of Part XVA on Sexual Harassment in the proposed Amendment to the Employment Act in this sitting of Parliament. Putting it into the Employment Act establishes that sexual harassment is a workplace violation and that is a good development.
However we are concerned that the section does not include a workable definition on Sexual Harassment placing the onus on the complainant to argue and convince the employer that sexual harassment took place. If sexual harassment is not clearly defined how can a person prove harassment? The employer may have one definition in mind, the perpetrator another and the complainant another? Whose definition will apply? Clearly the definition of the people with power i.e. the employer and the Director-General will have an advantage. The point of addressing sexual harassment is to empower the complainant to bring violations to the process of arbitration. Without a clear definition, sexual harassment will be almost impossible to establish in many instances. For example is oral harassment regarded as a violation? Secondly it is left to the Minister to prescribe the process for the inquiry while the process for the employer and the Director-General to refuse an inquiry (and the grounds for it) are specified. Why this discrepancy? After all isn’t the “Employment Act” essentially a means to protect the rights of workers and to regulate employer-employee relations.
However we are concerned that the section does not include a workable definition on Sexual Harassment placing the onus on the complainant to argue and convince the employer that sexual harassment took place. If sexual harassment is not clearly defined how can a person prove harassment? The employer may have one definition in mind, the perpetrator another and the complainant another? Whose definition will apply? Clearly the definition of the people with power i.e. the employer and the Director-General will have an advantage. The point of addressing sexual harassment is to empower the complainant to bring violations to the process of arbitration. Without a clear definition, sexual harassment will be almost impossible to establish in many instances. For example is oral harassment regarded as a violation?
Secondly it is left to the Minister to prescribe the process for the inquiry while the process for the employer and the Director-General to refuse an inquiry (and the grounds for it) are specified. Why this discrepancy? After all isn’t the “Employment Act” essentially a means to protect the rights of workers and to regulate employer-employee relations.
We demand that the Government rectifies these inadequacies in the Bill before passing it.
Press Statement
Irene Xavier
President
Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor
23 June, 2011
Section on Sexual Harassment Amendments to the Employment Act, Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor welcomes the inclusion of Part XVA on Sexual Harassment in the proposed Amendment to the Employment Act in this sitting of Parliament. Putting it into the Employment Act establishes that sexual harassment is a workplace violation and that is a good development.
However we are concerned that the section does not include a workable definition on Sexual Harassment placing the onus on the complainant to argue and convince the employer that sexual harassment took place. If sexual harassment is not clearly defined how can a person prove harassment? The employer may have one definition in mind, the perpetrator another and the complainant another? Whose definition will apply? Clearly the definition of the people with power i.e. the employer and the Director-General will have an advantage. The point of addressing sexual harassment is to empower the complainant to bring violations to the process of arbitration. Without a clear definition, sexual harassment will be almost impossible to establish in many instances. For example is oral harassment regarded as a violation? Secondly it is left to the Minister to prescribe the process for the inquiry while the process for the employer and the Director-General to refuse an inquiry (and the grounds for it) are specified. Why this discrepancy? After all isn’t the “Employment Act” essentially a means to protect the rights of workers and to regulate employer-employee relations.
However we are concerned that the section does not include a workable definition on Sexual Harassment placing the onus on the complainant to argue and convince the employer that sexual harassment took place. If sexual harassment is not clearly defined how can a person prove harassment? The employer may have one definition in mind, the perpetrator another and the complainant another? Whose definition will apply? Clearly the definition of the people with power i.e. the employer and the Director-General will have an advantage. The point of addressing sexual harassment is to empower the complainant to bring violations to the process of arbitration. Without a clear definition, sexual harassment will be almost impossible to establish in many instances. For example is oral harassment regarded as a violation?
Secondly it is left to the Minister to prescribe the process for the inquiry while the process for the employer and the Director-General to refuse an inquiry (and the grounds for it) are specified. Why this discrepancy? After all isn’t the “Employment Act” essentially a means to protect the rights of workers and to regulate employer-employee relations.
We demand that the Government rectifies these inadequacies in the Bill before passing it.
Press Statement
Irene Xavier
President
Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor
23 June, 2011
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
Why we need a decent living wage?
At a roundtable conference in Petaling Jaya on Friday, 10 June 2011, where unionists, NGO activists from Korea, Thailand, Philippines, South Korea and Malaysia said that a decent living wage policy would help workers cope with the economic realities of their respective countries in real time.
A decent living wage policy should be the way forward for governments in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and South Korea to give workers better security.
The Philippine National Wages and Productivity Commission deputy executive director Patricia Hornilla said that a decent living wage has a more holistic approach in addressing workers’ needs compared to a minimum wage.
“A decent living wage will ensure a worker has funds for savings and investing in social security schemes,” said Hornilla.
However, Hornilla said it was important that all parties involved in implementing the policy – the government, employers and employees – come to a mutual understanding.
Productivity and increments
She also said that employers should not argue about productivity when it came to addressing the basic needs of their workers.
“Productivity should only be taken into consideration when considering increments,” she said.
She said that the parties could come up with clear criteria on how the wages should be adjusted from time to time. “This will help employers be prepared. It will also deter employees from having unrealistic expectations over their wage adjustments.”
Difference between decent living wage and minimum wage
Thailand’s Arom Pongpangan Foundation-Labour Resource Centre director Bundit Thanachaisethavut said that unlike a decent living wage, a minimum wage only served to protect those who were fresh in the workforce for a certain period of time.
However, a decent living wage will ensure the worker has money for food, non-food items and savings,” he said.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
A decent living wage policy should be the way forward for governments in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and South Korea to give workers better security.
 |
| Patricia Hornilla |
“A decent living wage will ensure a worker has funds for savings and investing in social security schemes,” said Hornilla.
“A decent living wage will ensure a worker has funds for savings and investing in social security schemes”
However, Hornilla said it was important that all parties involved in implementing the policy – the government, employers and employees – come to a mutual understanding.
Productivity and increments
She also said that employers should not argue about productivity when it came to addressing the basic needs of their workers.
“Productivity should only be taken into consideration when considering increments,” she said.
She said that the parties could come up with clear criteria on how the wages should be adjusted from time to time. “This will help employers be prepared. It will also deter employees from having unrealistic expectations over their wage adjustments.”
Difference between decent living wage and minimum wage
 |
| Bundit Thanachaisethavut |
“But a decent wage policy takes into consideration cost of living, skills upgrade and sustainability,” said Thanachaisethavut. However, he said that the new policy could only materialise if the unions were strong."... a minimum wage only served to protect those who were fresh in the workforce for a certain period of time."
Santiago agreed that a decent living wage scheme was the way to move forward in these current times. “In many countries, the minimum wage is set even below the poverty line."... a decent wage policy ... could only materialise if the unions were strong."
However, a decent living wage will ensure the worker has money for food, non-food items and savings,” he said.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
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