Cabinet approves minimum wage policy

PETALING JAYA – The Cabinet has approved the minimum wage policy to be implemented through the National Wage Consultation Council, Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said today.

Subramaniam said the ministry will draft a new law to form the council to determine the rate and mechanism for a minimum wage.

“Any decision in the future and implementation will be made through the council based on the powers granted through the new law, which will be tabled in the coming Parliament session,” he told reporters after launching a conference by the Human Resource Development Berhad.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced the formation of the council in his Budget 2011 speech, saying the council would comprise representatives of employers, trade unions, non-unionised employees, government agencies, academics, NGOs and individuals. The Human Resources Ministry would act as the secretariat.

Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud called for a RM900 minimum wage to be set across the board plus a RM300 living allowance, to help those earning below the poverty line of RM720 a month.

“The Government must have a strong will to implement a national minimum wage. It is left to be seen whether the council can achieve its goal,” he said when reacting to the budget speech.

The Human Resources Ministry had stated in August that more than 30 per cent of the country’s 1.3 million workers were earning less than RM700 per month.

Subramaniam said today that the RM500 million allocationf for skills training in Budget 2011 would be implemented through various ministries such as the Higher Education Ministry, Youth and Sports Ministry, Human Resources Ministry and MARA.

He said the ministry would revamp all training through the Skills Development Coordination Council to ensure its targets are achieved.

In his speech, Subramaniam said only 28 per cent of the 9.8 million workers in the country are highly skilled but the government hoped to increase it to 33 per cent by 2015 and 50 per cent by 2020.

“Under the Economic Transformation Programme, some 3.3 million job opportunities will be created with 60 per cent in the high skills category,” he added. - Bernama