Economists Urge Govt to Prioritise Malaysian Workers' Welfare

As the nation is facing massive unemployment, the unions and economists have one advice for the Malaysian government: Protect Malaysian workers.

They also said that fair treatment of staff must be ensured. This is in response to an announcement by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin that up to a million Malaysians could lose their jobs in the next few months as a result of the economic fallout caused by the recent pandemic.

They want the government to ensure the rights of Malaysian workers are prioritised over that of migrant workers. One economist also suggested a new "Pandemic Emergency Bill" to cover all such future events.

Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) president Datuk Abdul Halim Mansor stated that employers must be made accountable for prioritising jobs of local employees without discrimination.

“Local workers should be given employment opportunities and their rights should be protected under the Employment Act 1955, Employees Social Security Act 1969 and other laws,” he said.

“We support the government’s initiatives to send home all undocumented migrant workers as well as documented migrant workers who have lost their jobs recently,” he added.

Unions and economists want the government to focus on helping local workers as unemployment rate increases.

Halim showed concern over dismissals and pay cuts, adding that government aid would be “highly appreciated”. “Many from the M40 and B40 groups have been dismissed, or paid only half their wages, or forced to take unpaid leave.

“The government needs to extend moratoriums until the year-end to help local workers,” he said.

Asli Centre for Public Policy chairman Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam emphasised that there is a need for the government to prioritise unemployment problems and create a strategic plan to solve them.

“The government must declare the issue an economic crisis and the ‘Covid-19 Bill’ must take into account the unemployment crisis. “Severe labour cuts can cause social dissatisfaction and unrest,” Ramon said.

He also suggested for the setting up of a high-power national task force with representation from the government, unions, employers and non-governmental organisations to discuss such matters.

He said the government could also provide private firms subsidies to encourage them to hire those who were retrenched. “We will have to transform the economy more drastically. We have to relax the New Economic Policy and get domestic and foreign investors to play a bigger role in Malaysia’s new normal,” Ramon added.

Universiti Malaya economics professor Datuk Rajah Rasiah suggested a “Pandemic Emergency Bill” to cover other impending pandemics. “This will enable the establishment of institutions and organisations prepared to handle similar problems in future.”

He said retrenched workers should be placed quickly in newly emerging industries such as those involved in the industry of ventilators and face masks, and in food production industries using more productive technologies.

“The government should also accelerate the transformation of technical and vocational education training to shift towards programming, coding, designing and the handling and maintenance of robots and drones,” he added.

Rajah also stated the government should help all marginalised people regardless of whether they are employed. “Paying a reasonable income to all households until the economic recovery is well underway will help protect our population from physical, economic and psychological damage.

“Governments in Denmark, France and Germany have already adopted this approach,” he added.

Source: The Sun Daily

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