Look, a minimum wage would spur economic activity

 United States, Workers' rights  No Responses »
Aug 152007
 

Here’s more evidence to show that a minimum wage can actually keep the economy purring. This time, we go to the United States. San Francisco-based journalist, Dick Meister, a specialist on labour issues, is actually calling on the US administration to raise the minimum wage there to a more decent level. A minimum wage, far from dampening economic sentiment, could actually spur domestic demand and boost economic activity. Here’s what he has to say: But what of that other bit of fiction spread by opponents, their flimsy argument that raising the minimum forces employers to eliminate jobs? Don’t you believe it. Just the opposite has happened after each of the 19 previous times the minimum has been raised since it was initially set at 25 cents an hour in 1938. The job growth has been spurred primarily by the increased spending of those whose pay has been increased. What’s more, [Read more]

1,800 turn up for MTUC picket in Prai

 Development issues, Workers' rights  1 Response »
Aug 082007
 

Just heard from Abdul Razak Abdul Hamid, the chairman of MTUC Penang, that some 1,800 workers turned up for the MTUC picket near the Prai Industrial Estate, adding their voices to the call for a RM900 minimum wage and a RM300 cost of living allowance. This exceeds the turnout for the earlier 25 June picket, in which some 1,000 workers took part. Razak said that a few more new groups joined in today’s picket. He added that similar pickets were also held in about half a dozen locations across the country – Ipoh, KL (in three locations), Johor, Sabah and Sarawak. So the issue is not dying out – there is still disquiet among the low-income working class. And a general election is looming. The ball is now in PM Abdullah Badawi’s court.

Will a minimum wage drive away investors?

 Development issues, Malaysian finance/business, Workers' rights  No Responses »
Aug 082007
 

The MTUC resumes its nation-wide picketing calling for a minimum wage at 5 pm today. I dropped by to check out the demo in Prai during the last picket on 25 June 2007. The turnout – a vocal crowd of close to 1,000 – exceeded the organisers’ most optimistic expectations. A large majority of the demonstrators were Malays with a smattering of Indians and Chinese – working class people. I found out from them that some factories in the area are still paying their workers a basic wage of less than RM400. The government has said that investors will skip Malaysia if we were to introduce a minimum wage. But check out this report from the OECD Observer website: Minimum wages are a long-standing tradition in many other OECD countries. A minimum wage was first introduced in New Zealand in 1894, and followed a few years later by Australia. The [Read more]

Minimum wage more effective than NEP equity targets

 Corporate agenda, Development issues, Malaysian finance/business, Marginalised groups, Neo-liberal economics, Poverty, Workers' rights  No Responses »
Jul 232007
 

As we all know, the two main prongs of the New Economic Policy are to wipe out poverty across the board and to restructure society so that no one ethnic group is stereotyped with a particular occupation – which in effect largely meant lifting the bumiputera community above the poverty line and into the ranks of the middle class. Now, wouldn’t it be great if there was a policy measure that could kill both these “birds” with one stone? Well, there is – but it is the one measure that the government is loathe to introduce and has dismissed out of hand. It is a minimum wage for all workers. A minimum wage would do wonders to reduce the poverty rate. Low-income workers would have to be paid wages that are above the poverty line. In fact, a minimum wage would be a far more effective tool in redistributing income [Read more]

Death of a migrant worker

 Development issues, Human rights, Workers' rights  2 Responses »
Jun 202007
 

Malaysians are so riveted by the Altantuya murder case that they didn’t notice that another foreign national has died in Malaysia in mysterious circumstances. Well, I wouldn’t blame them as the news went unreported in the local media. Vipin V Nair was found hanged in a budget hotel room in George Town, Penang earlier this month. What drove a young man from India to take his life in a foreign land? Sadly, even if we had heard about it, I doubt if the news would have raised any eyebrows. After all, he was “just a migrant worker”. No big-time political intrigue, no political powerplay. But if we care to look deeper, we will see that many migrant workers are victims of exploitation, cheating and deception. Many parties stand to make a lot of money from the recruitment of foreign workers into Malaysia. Think about it: you have recruitment agents’ fees [Read more]

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