KUCHING, March 22: The RM1,500 minimum wage hike must be applied to every employee throughout the nation, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as a delay would be seen as discriminatory, demanded the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) Sarawak Division.
MTUC Sarawak secretary Andrew Lo, in proposing this, emphasised that the cost of living for workers is the same no matter which employer they work for.
“A cup of coffee, a pack of nasi lemak, a bowl of mee or a litre of petrol costs the same whether one is an employee of a GLC (government-linked company), a multinational big company or a small business. They are all from the same ‘Keluarga Malaysia’ (Malaysian Family).
“In fact most big companies provide other employment perks that SMEs do not provide. So workers of small businesses are already worse off,” he said in a statement today.
This came after Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Awang Hashim said the government is considering allowing some micro businesses as well as SMEs to postpone the implementation of the minimum wage, as they might not have the ability to pay.
Lo was of the view that it would be a fallacy and an act of fear mongering to claim that small businesses cannot accord to pay when they have fewer workers and their labour cost is not higher than big companies.
“SMEs are a pampered lot and they even have a dedicated ministry and many government agencies to look after their interests,” he said.
In Malaysia, he pointed out that real wages have recorded slower growth compared to real labour productivity.
“When wages have been artificially suppressed below productivity levels, it would lead to low labour participation rates in the economy and brain drain, as workers have less incentive to find employment inside the country.
“In fact wages have been suppressed at such low levels that local workers were displaced by low-waged foreign workers.
“We have no doubt that the social economic data supports the increase to RM1,500. As such we are very disturbed that the government intends to allow small and micro companies to postpone the implementation of the minimum wage,” he said.
While MTUC Sarawak welcomes the announcement of the minimum wage hike with effect from May 1, 2022, Lo however expressed concerns that the National Minimum Wage policy has been hijacked for political expediency.
He noted that the minimum wage policy with the enactment of the National Wages Consultative Council Act (NWCC) was implemented as one of the policy tools to push Malaysia towards a high income nation.
“The minimum wage policy is intended to ensure that the basic needs of workers and their families are met, protect them from exploitation, and to incentivise firms to move up the value chain by investing in technology and boosting productivity.”
Furthermore, Lo pointed out that deferring the new minimum wage ruling for SMEs and micro business will also be an implementation disaster as many employers would be split into separate legal entities and associate companies and hence qualify as small business when in reality they are significant employers.
“It will lead to abuse. We therefore demand that the new minimum wage must be applied to every employee throughout the nation,” he added. — DayakDaily
