By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Sept 27: The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has called for the minimum wage to be raised to RM3,100 under Budget 2027, saying current workers’ salaries have yet to keep pace with productivity and company profits.
According to its secretary-general, Kamarul Baharin Mansor, government-linked companies (GLCs) and government-linked investment companies (GLICs) were also called to lead the way in paying better wages before the private sector is pushed to do the same.
“Fair wages must start with GLCs and GLICs. It should not be only the top management that benefits while workers at the bottom are left with the scraps,” he said in a Free Malaysia Today news report.
Kamarul welcomed Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s criticism of large corporations that continued paying low wages despite making huge profits, saying workers who helped generate those profits deserved a fairer share.
Yesterday (Sept 26), Anwar said Budget 2027 will include measures to boost private-sector wages in line with rising productivity.
Anwar, who is also finance minister, said his administration will seek ways to negotiate with the private sector to raise wages in line with productivity levels, rather than threatening legal repercussions.
Since May 2025, six GLICs have set a minimum wage of RM3,100 for permanent employees as part of implementing a living wage policy. They are Khazanah Nasional Bhd, Permodalan Nasional Bhd, EPF, Retirement Fund Inc, the Armed Forces Fund Board and Lembaga Tabung Haji.
Anwar told Parliament last year that 34 GLCs and GLICs have adopted the RM3,100 living wage policy.
The current minimum wage is RM1,700 a month.
The prime minister was also reported to have said that the RM1,700 minimum wage should not be treated as the starting salary for skilled workers or graduates. — DayakDaily
