Charles Santiago |
- Groups call for sexual Harassment Act
- Gaji minimum: keputusan akhir kerajaan tentukan
- Cabinet has final say in minimum wage plan, admits minister
- Santiago:Wage council Bill “Waste of Time”
- இந்தியர்களின் குடியுரிமைப் பிரச்சனை இதுவரையில் தீர்க்கப்படாதது ஏன்?, சார்ல்ஸ்
| Groups call for sexual Harassment Act Posted: 01 Jul 2011 09:22 PM PDT Source: The Malaysian Insider By Clara Chooi June 28,2011
The groups, which are part of an umbrella body called "Malaysians for Decent Living Wage", also rejected several other amendments to the Act, tabled in Parliament last week. Speaking to reporters here, Friends of Women president Irene Xavier said according to the sexual harassment section of the Act, women earning more than RM2,000 were excluded. Additionally, she said, the act lacks a workable definition of "sexual harassment". "There is no comprehensive definition of sexual harassment. This one lacks it so it will be difficult for anyone to lodge a complaint," she said. Klang MP Charles Santiago (picture) also complained about the inclusion of the words "for labour" in the definition of "contractors" in Section 2 of the Act, saying that it would only create "job insecurity" for workers. "This amendment has serious implications on workers… the employment pattern in Malaysia will change and it will create job insecurity because you will see contract jobs becoming more popular than regular jobs. "When this happens, outsourcing becomes popular, as opposed to regular jobs. When you join a company, you typically stay for a long time but now, you work on contract for one, two or three years and you are entitled to minimal benefits and lower salaries," he said. Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) former president Syed Shahir Mohamad Jalil also pointed to the proposed amendment to Section 19(2) of the Employment Act which he said would allow employers to delay overtime wages by more than a month. According to the amendment, an employer would have to pay his employees for work done on a rest day, gazetted public holiday and overtime "not later than the last day of the next wage period". "So if I work overtime in June, I might have to wait until the end of July to get paid because the employer is granted leeway to do so," he said. He pointed out that many low-income workers relied heavily on their overtime wages to support their families. "But if employers can delay it to the following wage period, it would affect their daily expenses," he said.
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| Gaji minimum: keputusan akhir kerajaan tentukan Posted: 01 Jul 2011 08:00 PM PDT Source: The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR-22 Jun – Pentadbiran Najib menolak andaian bahawa pembentukan majlis perundingan gaji Nasional sebagai usaha sia-sia sambil menegaskan kerajaan mempunyai kata akhir dalam menetapkan kadar gaji manimum nasional. Menteri Sumber Manusia Datuk S.Suramaniam juga memberi jaminannya bahawa kementeriannya akan memberi pertimbangan yang adil ke atas syor-syor majlis itu sebelum melaksanakan sebarang dasar gaji minimum. “Kami akan mengambil pandangan majlis … memberi keutamaan penting. Itu Sebab kami melantik majlis dan itu sebabnya kami mahu mereka membincangkannya”, kata beliau ketika ditemui di parlimen. Terdahulu Subramaniam mengakui bahawa keputusan akhir apa juga gaji dasar minimum terletak pada tangan kabinet. ” Kerajaan membuat keputusan.Ini yang diamalkan di kebanyakan bahagian di dunia…apabila ada perundingan tiga pihak, berdasarkan perundingan in, kerajaan membua keputusan”. Subramaniam diminta mengulas kenyataan Ahli Parlimen DAP Charles Santiago behawa pembentukan majlis itu satu tindakan membuat masa.
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| Cabinet has final say in minimum wage plan, admits minister Posted: 01 Jul 2011 09:49 AM PDT Source; The Malaysian Insider
 Human Resources Minister Datuk S. Subramaniam also said that the bill does not contain the minimum wage rate because "no act would state the amount anywhere in the world." — Reuters file pic KUALA LUMPUR, June 22 — The Najib administration dithered today when confronted with accusations that its proposed wage council was a futile exercise with Human Resources Minister Datuk S. Subramaniam admitting that the government would still have the final say in setting a minimum wage rate. However, the minister also gave his assurance that the ministry would give fair consideration to the council's recommendations before implementing any minimum wage policy. "We will take the views of the council … give it great importance. That is why we appoint the council and that is why we want them to deliberate," he told reporters when approached in Parliament. Earlier, however, Subramaniam had admitted that the final decision on any minimum wage policy would still lie in the hands of the Cabinet. "The government makes the decision. This is practised in most parts of the world … when there is a tripartite consultation, based on this consultation, the government decides," he said. He was asked to comment on complaints from DAP MP Charles Santiago who told a press conference in Parliament that the National Wages Consultation Council (NWCC) Bill tabled yesterday was a waste of time. The Klang MP had said the bill, which does not expressly state a minimum wage rate, made the ministry all-powerful as it was allowed to determine whether to accept or reject the council's recommendations. He also pointed out that the ministry was already empowered to put in place a wage floor and as such, the NWCC would only be "redundant and a waste of public funds while introducing another bureaucratic layer in wage determination." Subramaniam acknowledged that the bill does not contain the minimum wage rate but added, "no act would state the amount anywhere in the world." "But we (ministry) do not decide (the rate). They (NWCC) make the decision and it goes to Cabinet. If Cabinet does not agree, it refers it back to the council. "There are some countries where the government decides on its own. In our case, there is a tripartite consultation and then the government decides and we will definitely give value to the tripartite consultation," he said. Despite widespread concerns raised by numerous employers, Putrajaya went ahead and tabled the highly-anticipated NWCC bill in Parliament yesterday, paving the way for the implementation of a minimum wage policy in the country. According to the bill, the NWCC's role will be to advise the government on all matters related to minimum wages, including its development at the international level as well as recommendations to the government on minimum wage rates and coverage according to sectors, types of employment and regional areas, among others. It will comprise a chairman, a deputy, a secretary, at least five members drawn from public officers, at least five employee representatives, five employer representatives and another five others who have yet to be named — all of whom will be appointed by the minister. Subramaniam explained today that the five "others" will include independent and qualified experts like economists and academicians. Upon receiving NWCC's recommendations, the government can choose to agree with the council or direct it to review them within a stipulated period.
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| Santiago:Wage council Bill “Waste of Time” Posted: 01 Jul 2011 09:20 AM PDT Source:The Malaysian Insider <!––> UPDATED @ 08:19:01 PM 22-06-2011 By Melissa Chi June 22, 2011
 Santiago says the wage council was not needed to realise a minimum wage. — file pic KUALA LUMPUR, June 22 — The National Wages Consultative Council Bill is "a waste of time", said Klang MP Charles Santiago today, adding that the Ministry of Human Resources was already empowered to put in place a wage floor. "The minister can implement minimum wages already. All he has to have is a technical committee that can advise him on the wages and he can sign on the minimum wages and it can be implemented," Santiago told reporters in Parliament today. "Thus the setting-up of a National Wages Consultative Council (NWCC) is redundant, a waste of public funds and it introduces another bureaucratic layer in wage determination." Despite widespread concerns raised by numerous employers, Putrajaya went ahead and tabled the highly-anticipated NWCC bill in Parliament yesterday, paving the way for the implementation of a minimum wage policy in the country. According to the bill, the NWCC's role will be to advise the government on all matters related to minimum wages, including its development at the international level as well as recommendations to the government on minimum wage rates and coverage according to sectors, types of employment and regional areas, among others. The council will also consult the public on minimum wage rates and coverage; collect and analyse data and information and conduct research on wages and the socioeconomic indicators; co-ordinate, supervise and evaluate the impact of its implementation; and review the minimum wage order, among other matters. Santiago also said the bill does not define the minimum wage, unlike in Thailand, South Korea and Indonesia, where three factors are taken into account when determining the level of minimum wage, which are food, non-food and savings. In South Korea, he pointed out that in fixing the minimum wage, the minister of labour takes into account the cost of living, the wages of comparable workers and labour productivity, among other factors. He also said that the council should be autonomous and independent of the government. "We feel the government should not be represented in the council," he said, which should be similar to the South Korean model that works "very well." He said the council should be represented by three groups: employers, employees and an independent group comprising of a mix of both groups whose members are elected by the council. "Our proposal is once the recommendation is made to the minister, if he's not happy with it, the final decision should rest with the council and not the minister. So therefore, you are making the council autonomous and independent of the government. I think this is important," he said. He gave the example of the government's promise to raise the wages of security guards to between RM1,100 and RM1,300 by July of last year. But he pointed out that they had scrapped the idea, pushed it to January 1 and changed it to between RM500 and RM700. "So therefore, we feel a political appointee such as the minister cannot withstand the political pressure and therefore, he has to favour the employers. So therefore, you take the responsibility away from the minister and give it to the council, who is made up of employers, employees and a third group of independent people who are appointed or elected by a rotation system by employers and employees. "The minister will be under pressure and typical of Malaysia, we have seen this over and over again, that the minister is subservient to the business masters," he said. Santiago pointed out that in the past 15 years, the average wage increase for the average Malaysian worker has been 2.6 per cent. "This bill does not address the issue at all, so therefore, in that sense the minister has failed and having talked about this for almost one year, and having had many, many lab sessions, it is clear at the end of the lab sessions, if this is the product, then it is a total zero. "The government of Malaysia has failed Malaysian workers who are trying to push for a decent living wage. This bill does not promise a decent living wage for Malaysians," he said.
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| இந்தியர்களின் குடியுரிமைப் பிரச்சனை இதுவரையில் தீர்க்கப்படாதது ஏன்?, சார்ல்ஸ் Posted: 01 Jul 2011 01:38 AM PDT 1 Jul | செய்தி| மலேசியாஇன்று
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