Save the workers, not the cronies

Some 500 workers gathered this morning to observe Labour Day at Dataran Seremban.

This year’s theme is ‘Economic crisis: Save the workers, not the cronies’.

Civil society and workers groups are demanding:

• a retrenchment fund with an initial contribution of RM0.5 billion from the government,
• a stimulus package that really provides jobs for unemployed Malaysians,
• discussions with banks to reschedule and reduce monthly housing loan replayments for low-income workers,

• agricultural land for retrenched workers so that they can engage in farming,
• food vouchers for families who have lost their livelihoods,
• no reduction in the corporate tax rate of 27 per cent,
• the fulfilment of election manifesto promises relating to maternity leave, minimum wage, and retirement benefits,
• a Minimum Wage Act for all workers and an end to the cheap labour policy.
• the ratification of the ILO Convention relating to domestic workers and other international instruments to ensure that workers’ rights and welfare are protected.
• the automatic recognition of trade unions and the repeal of laws that discriminate against workers and of any new laws that make it easier for employers to dismiss workers,
• an end to discrimination against female workers and the enactment of an anti-sexual harassment law,
• equal rights to be granted to migrant workers and that they be protected from harassment and abuse by enforcement personnel,
• economic policies that do not discriminate on the basis of race and gender but which are instead based on need and aimed at a fair and equitable participatory model of development,
• the termination of FTA negotiations with the EU and the US,
• an end to the evictions of urban pioneers and the repeal of the Emergency Ordinance (Squatter Clearance) 1969 be repealed. In their place, affordable housing schemes should be introduced.
• an end to the privatisation of basic services such as health and water supply,
• the repeal of law that oppress and discriminate against workers such as the ISA, OSA and the Trade Unions Act, and
• a clean, transparent, credible government free from corruption and cronyism.