By Adrian Lim
KUCHING, May 31: Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) Sarawak is urging the government to provide wage subsidies for all workers in the private sector.
MTUC Sarawak secretary Andrew Lo in a statement said it is sensible for the government to implement a complete lockdown as the number of Covid-19 cases remained high.
“We call on all Malaysians to comply with ever necessary measures to beat this pandemic. If it means losing much of our liberties and conveniences, so be it. We hope it should not take more than one month.
“However a self-lockdown without income security is impossible for workers struggling to put food on the table. Businesses and employers also need assistance. In this regard we propose the burden to be equally shared between government, employer and workers.
“The government should provide a one-third (wage) subsidy, employer to pay one-third and workers to sacrifice one-third of their wages, subject to minimum wage of RM1,200,” he said.
Lo also urged the government to prioritise and expedite vaccinations for workers in essential services as well as labour-intensive industries such as manufacturing and construction workers, adding that workplace clusters made up 60 per cent of total new clusters.
He opined the government should rope in all medical clinics to assist in the vaccination rollout, instead of just operating a few vaccination administration centres.
Besides, Lo said the government must also ensure food security for all, including unemployed workers and migrant workers. — DayakDaily
