HUMAN Resources Minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan’s announcement that selected sectors such as tourism, informal sectors and those who have suffered losses due to the impact of COVID-19 would be exempted from the implementation of the proposed minimum wage of RM1500, is mislaid.
The underlying objective of national minimum wage is premised upon the principle that all salaried workers, irrespective of the economic sectors that they are involved in, ought to be paid a decent minimum wage.
This is for the simple reason that any wage below the national minimum wage would only result in a mismatch of minimum wage levels between one economic sector to another.
Common sense will dictate that our Government cannot be cherry-picking on the fundamental issue of a national minimum wage. In our view, a national minimum wage must be enforced holistically and not selectively.
Saravanan and the Government seem to have been swayed by the lobbying of the business community to extricate themselves from paying their workers the national minimum wage.
Obviously, we have inherited a government that seems to be beholden to the employers at the expense of the grossly underpaid working-class population.
On a population demography, the most vulnerable citizens of our society are those who are entrapped in the B40 and M40 segment.
By exempting them from the benefits of the minimum wage of RM1500, the Government ought to stand accused of being inconsiderate of their financial plight.
Moreover, they will face the ever-escalating cost of living and will continue to suffer financial stress, no thanks to the baseless selective implementation of the RM1,500 minimum wage.
Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) Penang Division is of the view that the Government has a moral obligation to ensure that each and every working-class citizen is paid the national minimum wage as all workers have the constitutional right to be treated equally.
We therefore demand that Saravanan and the Government uphold the constitutional right of all workers to be accorded the national minimum wage without any exemption. – April 15, 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.
