IF Amanah Youth economy bureau chief, Ammar Atan has any sense of understanding of the economic challenges confronting the low- and middle-income wage earners he would not have called for the postponement of the minimum wage order of RM1,500 in respect of workers in the small and medium enterprises.
Obviously, he has elected to turn a blind eye to the indisputable fact that workers toil in the small, medium and informal sectors on unsustainable wages.
According to reports cost of basic necessities such as bread, fish and vegetables have been increasing many folds with reports saying that cost of food items is expected to increase by 60% in June 2022!
Inflationary trends are also reported to be escalating and is expected to continue to prevail on account of supply chain distribution caused by current geopolitical circumstances.
As a net food-importing country we are further impacted on account of the depreciation of our ringgit which translates to higher cost of imported essential food products. And the reality is that such increases would, in all probability, be passed on to the working people.
Under such circumstances, we find it completely unacceptable for Amanah Youth to call for the postponement of the minimum wage to the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) ostensibly on the premise that they were not given enough time to get ready.
The Minimum Wage Act 2012 in clear terms requires that the National Minimum Wage has to be revised once in two years.
The managements of SMEs ought to have read the law and ought to have prepared themselves to conform with such periodic improvements to the national Minimum Wage Order issued pursuant to the Minimum Wage Act 2012.
For Amanah Youth to campaign on behalf of the managements of the SMEs as opposed to highlighting the suffering of the workers is not only repulsive but devoid of justification.
To Amanah Youth we say pay attention to the plight of the suffering of the workers and not act as a mouthpiece of the employer class! – May 25, 2022
K Veeriah is a veteran unionist and contributor to FocusM.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
