MTUC: 2 million workers yet to be paid minimum wage

PETALING JAYA: Some two million workers in Malaysia are still not being paid the minimum wage since the Minimum Wage Act came into force in January last year.
Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) deputy president Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid said the figure involves a workforce in some 60 to 100 companies in the country which did not comply with the Act.
"This is the known figure. However, the number does not include other companies, which were not reported, which did adhere to the Act," he said.
"Therefore, MTUC wants the government to take action and use existing provisions to penalise companies not complying with the Minimum Wage Act," he said.
Abdullah Sani, who is also Kuala Langat MP, said the government should not compromise on the issue and must understand the plight of workers in the country.
"We are disappointed with the lack of enforcement of the minimum wage and hope the authorities are serious in implementing it," he said.
The Minimum Wage Act 2012 came into force on Jan 1 last year.
With its implementation, the minimum wage for workers in Peninsular Malaysia is set at RM900 while for Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan it is RM800.
Abdullah Sani was speaking to the media to announce the "100,000 May Day Rally – International Labour Day" (Himpunan 100,000 May Day – Hari Pekerja Sedunia) at Wisma MTUC in Subang Jaya.
The rally, which will be held at Padang Timur on May 1, is targeting 100,000 workers to participate.
Abdullah Sani said the rally will focus on various issues concerning 11.3 million workers in Malaysia, such as minimum wage, the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and rise in cost of living.