2012 International Labour Day Celebration in Johor
Resolutions regarding Workers' Demands
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| Santha Perumal and Fang Pei Fen read out Resolutions regarding Workers' Demands. |
1) Workers' Union Rights – Empowering workers' unions by allowing workers' unions to be founded and encouraging workers to join workers' unions. Employers must cease actions which destroy workers' unions in this country.
2) Cease amending labour laws – The government must guarantee and protect the rights of workers, and the existing laws must be enhanced for this purpose, and the government should not confiscate and deny the rights of workers.
3) Compensation should be given to rubber estate workers who were forced to leave their respective estates due to the shift of focus to oil palm.
4) Promises which had been made to the Indian workers when they were brought into the country must be kept.
5) Female Workers' Rights – Cease all forms of discriminations and violence especially sexual harassment at workplaces towards female workers. Enact a comprehensive set of laws regarding sexual harassment to protect female workers.
B) Workers' Living Conditions
6) Since the government has already announced the implementation of minimum wage, they should also bear the responsibility towards any negative repercussions which may ensue. Specifically, the government must take proactive steps which may encourage foreign companies to keep their operations in this country, keep employment, prices of goods, and inflation rate from getting out of control.
7) The government must provide special housing within secure neighborhood for low-income workers.
8) Control Prices of Goods – Control increases in costs of basic goods and services. The proposed goods and services tax (GST) which would surely burden the people must not be implemented.
9) Cease Privatisation of Basic Services – Basic needs such as water, electricity, health, public transport, and education should not be privatised for the sake of profit. These basic needs must be provided by the government.
C) Entry of Foreign Workers
10) This Council recognises that foreign workers are needed in certain sectors and industries so as to ensure economic development. However this Council abhors the actions of the government and industries to bring foreign workers in big numbers, especially in sectors where local workers depend on in order to earn their living (eg. manufacturing and transportation), to cut their pay, and to degrade their welfare. This Council abhors the government's action in bringing in foreign workers from certain countries and giving them long-term work permit (extendable without limit), even to the point of granting them citizenship in 6P program.
11) Just laws must be enacted which deal with the issues of foreign workers vis-à-vis local ones.
12) The government must cease exploitation of foreign workers for its own political ends.
D) Human Resource Management
13) The government should set aside special fund for the training of local workers in specific skills, attitude-building and work quality so that they gain in competitiveness.
14) The government must take specific steps to accommodate new talents – the youths who have just completed their education – since they are part of the nation's assets which are invaluable.
15) The government should review its decision to annul the new "Public Service Renumeration Scheme" (SBPA) since the annulment affects the ongoing government transformation program
16) The government should consider applications by civil servants who wish to cancel their acceptance of the option to extend the age of retirement to 60 years.
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