MTUC Sarawak supports call for comprehensive employment reform

KUCHING: The Malaysian Trades Union Congress ( MTUC) Sarawak supports Bank Negara Malaysia’s ( BNM) call for a comprehensive reform of the country’s employment sector.

Its Secretary Andrew Lo said there must be greater empowerment of workers and recognition of trade unions to enable them to bargain for fair wages.

He said there must be strong political will to stand up to employers and their powerful lobby in order to move ahead with labour law reforms.

“MTUC Sarawak is pleased to note that BNM has finally let the cat out of the bag and echoed what MTUC has been saying all these years. Employees have been short-changed all these years. We feel vindicated. The challenge now is to formulate robust policy measures to bring about meaningful change,” he said in a statement yesterday. According to Lo, employers must stop fear mongering. “Workers and trade unions must grasp this opportunity to push for changes and embrace international labour standards and practices. The current trade union structure is not effective any more,” he said.

BNM had called for comprehensive reform of the country’s employment sector to attract quality investments that can generate more high-skilled jobs and offer better salaries.

Its governor Datuk Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus was quoted as saying that currently, workers in Malaysia are not paid equitably despite playing a larger role in the production process of labour-intensive industries such as wholesale, retail, and food and beverages.