by Theleaders-Online | December 20, 2019 6:17 am
We refer to the Human Resources Ministry’s decision to raise the minimum wage to RM1,200 in 57 cities and towns, and freeze it at RM1,100 for the rest of the country.
But why not just make it RM 1,200 nationwide?
Malaysia was supposed to be a fully developed nation in 2020 based on Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s vision 2020. This year Pakatan Harapan unveiled its joint prosperity vision.
Instead of cutting down the disparity between the rich and the poor, the government is creating disparity among the poorest by increasing the minimum wage for wage earners in 57 towns only.
And the increased minimum wage for those in the 57 towns is merely RM1,200, when in contrast the MTUC and PSM are calling for RM 1,800 while Bank Negara has proposed a much higher figure.
Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional both in their election manifestos agreed to increase the minimum wages to 1,500 in five years and currently the ruling party has another three years to get this done with maybe another two reviews in minimum wage in between.
It will therefore be logical and make more sense if the current wages is increased to RM 1,200 across the board as it will make things less complicated and will reduce strain in the administration and implementation of this new law. By the time the authorities and the employers get familiar with this, the next review will already be up.
We also have very low confidence that the government will keep to their RM1,500 promise because that will mean that they have to review and increase wages by at least RM150 for the next two reviews. Since coming to power, Pakatan’s only initially increased the minimum wage by RM50 and only after a huge protest, did they agree to increase it by another RM 50 making it RM 1,100. Therefore, it will be more convincing if the government increases the minimum wage for all to RM 1,200 now.
The increase in the minimum wage to RM 1,200 itself is far from adequate and to restrict it to workers in just 57 towns shows the government is out of touch with the reality in smaller towns.
It is a struggle for all Malaysians whether they live in the 57 towns or elsewhere to survive on RM1,100 and even RM1,200. Differentiating the minimum wage for the B20, especially when it is not even a living wage, is totally unreasonable and unacceptable.
The recent report by UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, Philip Alston on Malaysia’s poverty rate cannot be dismissed.
In the Pakatan Manifesto, the government has agreed to subsidise the minimum wage. We also know that GLCs play a major role in our economy and they pay obscene salaries to their chiefs.
As it stands, the Pakatan government refuses to increase taxes for the super rich and refuses to regulate wages of the top earners in GLCs, therefore the least it could do is increase the wages of the lowest paid workers nationwide.
S Arutchelvan is the deputy chairperson Parti Sosialis Malaysia
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