Syed Shahir and his team have been defeated in the MTUC elections today.
I spoke to a veteran unionist to find out the implications of the result. “It’s a black day for the workers’ movement,” he lamented.
He described the new set of top leaders as generally pro-establishment. “We will have to sit down and find out how to react to the leadership change.”
Apart from Syed Shahir, PKR MP Abdullah Sani also failed in his bid for the MTUC sec-gen post.
One of the biggest challenges is to implement a minimum wage. Although the official poverty line is just over RM700 for a household, many agree that the minimum wage of a workers should be well over RM1,000 or even RM2,000 to support a household.
Low-wage workers – and even the middle class – have been struggling to make ends meet. Just this evening, at the local coffee shop, I heard a patron grumbling, “All the prices in the market have been going up – garlic, onions, potatoes, sugar. ” And as prices of essential items rise, expect the crime rate to climb as well.
Look up the MTUC election results in a Malaysian Insider report here.
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Hi Anil, Have you heard any news about the Bkt.Gasing SHIVAN TEMPLE closure by Selangor state gov. Whats wrong with these guys ? This is the time every vote counts and selangor state gov. is stirring the honets nests , meaning earning the gross displeasure of ALL hindus. There is an undercurrent that is building up which could see a tsunami Against PR, Im sure all knows that the demolition of the small temple at shah alam took away all hindu votes away from BN. Now this. Further to this that guy Gopalakrishnan is adding fuel to the spark which… Read more »
Just because pr candidates lost it’s a black day. No semblance of objectivity at all.
The question is – What did Syed Shahir do for the MTUC members that they should prefer a more pro-establishment candidate?
When I heard about the news of MTUC election from TV, my six sense tell me something “interesting” is going to happen inside MTUC. since the “high profile” report from mainstream media.
Nevertheless, those unionist can blamed nobody but themselves for not having direct member election.