Make proposed amendments public, Kula told

Human Resources Minister M Kulasegaran was urged to make public proposed amendments to the Employment Act 1955 before tabling them for first reading at the Dewan Rakyat next month.

At a press conference today, Decent Work Working Group spokesperson N Gopal Kishnam said that civil society and trade union groups were in the dark about the progress of the amendments to the Employment Bill.

This was after four months after the ministry sought the input of the public and NGOs in drafting the amendments.

The group then followed up by submitting a memorandum comprising 46 recommendations in January this year.

"The minister has to be very transparent by making the document public before tabling it in parliament," said Gopal, who is also the secretary-general of National Union of Transport Equipment and Allied Industries Workers (Nuteaiw).

"We are in the dark. The memorandum (we submitted to the ministry) came from 55 trade unions and labour NGOs. We would like to know the status of our recommendations to the government," he said.

Another spokesperson of the group, Bruno Gentil Pereira, said it was very unbecoming of the ministry to remain silent after calling for recommendations from the civil society.

"And the next thing we know, it is going to be presented in parliament (for amendment of the bill). This is hitting us below the belt," said Pereira, who is the secretary-general of Electronic Industry Employee Union Western Region (Eieuwrpm).

He described the ministry's action as shutting the door against the trade union and NGOs.

Bruno Gentil Pereira said it was very unbecoming of the ministry to be silent.

The group, comprising 42 trade unions, two global union federation and 11 NGOs, proposed that the length of the working week be reduced from 48 hours to 40 in accordance with international standards.

The government intended to reduce the working week to 44 hours in its initial draft of the amendment of Employment Bill, which was made known to civil society groups during the engagement with the public in November 2018, said Gopal.

Gopal said the Decent Work Working Group launched a campaign to create awareness which included conducting a roadshow and engaging with parliamentarians to convey its messages.

esides working hours, the group also demanded that the government remove the salary cap which excludes higher income workers from being protected under the act and accorded 98 days maternity leave.

The group wanted the act to cover all workers in the country, regardless of whether they are local or migrant workers. The group also urged that the act be amended to prevent contract workers and allow only permanent employment for permanent job tasks.

Malaysia is working to amend 19 laws concerning labour, intellectual property rights and tax before ratifying the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Also present at the press conference are Malaysian Trade Unions Congress (MTUC) deputy president Mohd Jafar Abd Majid, Association of Bank Officers Peninsular Malaysia (Abom) secretary-general Ng Choo Seong, Women's Aid Organisation (WAO) executive committee member Mary Shanthi Dairiam and Malaysia Labour Centre (Uni-MLC) senior liaison officer M Nadarajan.  - Mkini