Come up with alternatives, disappointed MTUC tells Dr M

Disappointed by the prime minister’s rejection of its proposal to raise the retirement age to 65 years, the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has called on him to come up with alternative solutions to overcome problems faced by retires.

MTUC secretary-general J Solomon expressed regret that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad rejected the proposal without any study being done and before listening to the workers’ side of the story.

“We regret Mahathir chose to reject it outright, without offering any counter suggestions to tackle the related problems like low and insufficient minimum wage, the rising cost of living and low EPF savings," he said in a statement today.

Solomon said MTUC rejected Mahathir's explanation that implementing the proposal would hamper youths from obtaining employment and create a problem of deadwood remaining in the workforce.

“This reasoning confounds logic as many older workers have great experience and are hardworking, although they are old.

“Of course there are lazy ones but such workers also exist among the young. Laziness is an attitude and transcends age barriers,” he added.

Solomon also challenged the statement from Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (photo) that raising the mandatory retirement age to 65 would affect the job opportunities for youths.

He claimed it did not make sense as many Malaysians were unemployed due to low wages offered by the private sector and not because of a lack of jobs in Malaysia.

“This has resulted in many youths grabbing job opportunities abroad because of better wages which commensurate with their qualifications,” he said, adding that there was no link between unemployed youths being denied jobs and MTUC’s proposal to raise the mandatory retirement age to 65.

“He (Syed Saddiq) wants to be seen as the champion of the youths. But do not do it at the expense of the workers in the B40 and M40 groups who are grappling daily with problems of low wages, high cost of living and insufficient savings in EPF,” he said.

Solomon also said employers in the private sector were not filling in vacancies created by the retirement of staff, so as to save on operational costs and to cut down on the workforce.

“No private sector employer can guarantee that vacancies created by those retiring will be replaced. Instead, they find ways not to fill the vacancies or offer the jobs to foreigners with low wages or do away with the positions,” he said.

Solomon also hit out at Syed Saddiq over the minimum wage issue.

"Although a large number of private sector workers are youths, Syed Saddiq chose to remain silent when MTUC pushed the government to raise the minimum wage to RM1,800 per month," he said.

Solomon urged Mahathir to reconsider his decision, adding that if the prime minister instituted a detailed study, he would see the benefits the proposal would bring about.

“It’s still not too late as Budget 2020 would only be announced next month,” he said.

“After more than a year of being in power, the new government should not be in the mindset of the previous regime. It should reply with proper answers on issues pertaining to minimum wage, low savings, high cost of living and the inability to own houses among other problems faced by the workers daily.

“MTUC is ready anytime to meet them so that we could present to them the real situation with facts and figures,” Solomon added. - Mkini