KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 — The DAP’s Lim Guan Eng today criticised
the government’s minimum wage standard for Sabah and Sarawak as being
below the poverty line.
Datuk Seri Najib Razak had last Monday announced a monthly floor wage of RM900 for Peninsular Malaysia and RM800 for Sabah and Sarawak.
The prime minister yesterday defended the policy on his www.1malaysia.com.my blog, saying “I am clear that it is the right thing to do.”
“Barisan
Nasional (BN) must have lost its sense of balance to fix the minimum
monthly wage below the Poverty Line Index (PLI) of RM830 per month for
Sarawak and RM960 per month for Sabah (according to the Ninth Malaysia
Plan),” said Lim (picture), despite acknowledging that a “correct balance between guaranteeing workers a decent wage and employers’ needs” was needed.
The Bagan MP said that Peninsular Malaysia’s PLI is RM720 per month and pointed to the comparatively higher cost of living in Sabah and Sarawak.
Lim said this “demonstrates a glaring lack of commitment by BN to reduce poverty”.
He criticised Najib for saying that the policy had taken into account the factors of PLI, cost of living and unemployment rate.
The DAP secretary-general contrasted the government’s policy with Pakatan Rakyat’s pledge to implement a monthly minimum wage of RM1,100 if it comes to power.
Lim also said the base wage policy alone was insufficient to help a nation that he claims has “the second-highest level of household debt in Asia, after South Korea,” and referred to the Bank Negara’s Annual Report 2010 where Malaysia’s 2010 household debt was RM581 billion or 76 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The Penang chief minister said a holistic economic strategy was required to increase disposable income and purchasing power to drive domestic spending.
He urged the government to invest in public transport, housing and healthcare to bring down the cost of living, whilst adjusting minimum wage according to inflation rates.
Najib had said that the proposed wage levels would be reviewed once every two years to account for any changes to factors such as the PLI and cost of living.
The DAP had last week warned that the government’s minimum wage policy will not result in better quality of life without raising competitiveness, creating high productivity jobs and bringing women into the workforce.
The government began working on a minimum wage policy last year after over a decade of pressure from labour unions during which productivity rose by 6.7 per cent annually but real wages inched up by just 2.6 per cent each year.
But it was delayed as stakeholders continued to pressure the government. Small-medium industries (SMIs) warned that 80 per cent of active businesses could fold under a blanket wage floor, cutting four million jobs from the labour market.
After the policy was announced last week, employers and economists predicted that the new base wage would lead to surging unemployment, “black market” labour and inflationary pressure.
In contrast, workers’ groups protested against the new wage policy, demanding for a higher wage floor and greater employee rights.
SMIs say they make up 99 per cent of operational companies and employ 59 per cent of all workers as they are the most labour-intensive outfits and will be hardest hit by a hike in wage bills.
Datuk Seri Najib Razak had last Monday announced a monthly floor wage of RM900 for Peninsular Malaysia and RM800 for Sabah and Sarawak.
The prime minister yesterday defended the policy on his www.1malaysia.com.my blog, saying “I am clear that it is the right thing to do.”
“Barisan
Nasional (BN) must have lost its sense of balance to fix the minimum
monthly wage below the Poverty Line Index (PLI) of RM830 per month for
Sarawak and RM960 per month for Sabah (according to the Ninth Malaysia
Plan),” said Lim (picture), despite acknowledging that a “correct balance between guaranteeing workers a decent wage and employers’ needs” was needed.The Bagan MP said that Peninsular Malaysia’s PLI is RM720 per month and pointed to the comparatively higher cost of living in Sabah and Sarawak.
Lim said this “demonstrates a glaring lack of commitment by BN to reduce poverty”.
He criticised Najib for saying that the policy had taken into account the factors of PLI, cost of living and unemployment rate.
The DAP secretary-general contrasted the government’s policy with Pakatan Rakyat’s pledge to implement a monthly minimum wage of RM1,100 if it comes to power.
Lim also said the base wage policy alone was insufficient to help a nation that he claims has “the second-highest level of household debt in Asia, after South Korea,” and referred to the Bank Negara’s Annual Report 2010 where Malaysia’s 2010 household debt was RM581 billion or 76 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The Penang chief minister said a holistic economic strategy was required to increase disposable income and purchasing power to drive domestic spending.
He urged the government to invest in public transport, housing and healthcare to bring down the cost of living, whilst adjusting minimum wage according to inflation rates.
Najib had said that the proposed wage levels would be reviewed once every two years to account for any changes to factors such as the PLI and cost of living.
The DAP had last week warned that the government’s minimum wage policy will not result in better quality of life without raising competitiveness, creating high productivity jobs and bringing women into the workforce.
The government began working on a minimum wage policy last year after over a decade of pressure from labour unions during which productivity rose by 6.7 per cent annually but real wages inched up by just 2.6 per cent each year.
But it was delayed as stakeholders continued to pressure the government. Small-medium industries (SMIs) warned that 80 per cent of active businesses could fold under a blanket wage floor, cutting four million jobs from the labour market.
After the policy was announced last week, employers and economists predicted that the new base wage would lead to surging unemployment, “black market” labour and inflationary pressure.
In contrast, workers’ groups protested against the new wage policy, demanding for a higher wage floor and greater employee rights.
SMIs say they make up 99 per cent of operational companies and employ 59 per cent of all workers as they are the most labour-intensive outfits and will be hardest hit by a hike in wage bills.
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