May 1 is workers day and has been celebrated in Malaysia since 1972. On this day I was invited to speak at the workers day celebration organized by the National Union of Employees in Companies Manicuring Rubber Products. The Mentri Besar of Perak Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin , YB A.Siva Kumar, Speaker of the Perak State Assembly, A. Sivanesan, Exco member for Health, Environment and Human resources were also present.

Among the issues I raised was the question of full employment. The government claims we have an unemployment rate of 3.6% thus we are a country with near full employment. If indeed we have full employment why then is the BN government not implementing unemployment benefits to those who are unemployed.

Last year when I asked the Human Resources Minister in Parliament how the government calculated the full employment figures, the reply was it is based on those who have registered as unemployed with the Labour Offices in the country. This figures Are unacceptable because there are many more unemployed who are unaware of even the existence of Labour Offices and the need to register as unemployed. Many do not register, infect the majority don’t. Therefore it is necessary to get accurate unemployment figures and this will reflect a higher percentage necessitating the need to offer unemployment benefits.

Another topic I raised was the need to have a minimum wage policy. The MTUC and many others have urged the government to legalize the minimum wage system to help low paid employees to cope up with rising cost of living, especially in food prices. But the government doesn’t agree and is blind to the pains suffered by the low wage earners.

The Government replied to me in Parliament that if minimum wage is implemented then i) we will discourage foreign investors from investing in Malaysia ii) it will also make Malaysians lazy.

If this argument has any merit at all then it should apply equally to other countries which have introduced minimum wage. But this has not been the case in countries like UK , USA , Australia , NZ and closer to home in Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

In fact minimum wage has protected workers from being exploited by employers and it also ensures workers are remunerated fairly.

A third topic is the position of foreign workers. We have in out midst about three million, legal and illegal - and in fact employers give preference to foreign workers over local workers. Many factories have even retrenched local workers and hire cheaper foreign workers. We should stop this unhealthy practice and reduce our dependence on foreign workers.

The government says foreign workers are hired because local workers refuse to do jobs under the three D category - dangerous, dirty, difficult. But the real truth is that the wage sin these sectors is too low for any Malaysians to survive. That is why the work is shunned. Many foreign workers are also exploited by local employers like when wages are not paid, suffering under horrible working conditions, lack of basic and proper accommodation etc. We need to address these issues also.

Lastly I raised the reason why the government is so dead against setting up a retrenchment fund to help workers tide over difficult times when they suddenly lose their jobs. When retrenched they get very little by way of cash benefits from their employers unless there is a collective agreement. Under these conditions a retrenchment fund is urgently needed to help employee. They and the employers can contribute a certain percentage into the fund that can be used to cushion the negative impact of retrenchment.