KUALA LUMPUR: The Union Network International-Malaysia Labour Centre (UNI-MLC) has urged the government to review the pension rates of former civil servants, who are in their 80s and 90s, which are below the national poverty line.
Its president, Datuk Mohamed Shafie BP Mammal said that the majority of pensioners were part of government’s privatisation programme involving its agencies including Telekom Malaysia, Tenaga Nasional, Keretapi Tanah Melayu, Pos Malaysia and their salaries were very low, and received monthly pension payment between RM180 and RM500.
“They are classified as former government employees who received pensions below the poverty line and insufficient to support themselves and their families.
“These workers also took risks at that time when they switched to private companies (following privatisation move) from public services, so the pension payments received were very low due to their low salaries, coupled with less than 25 years in public services,” he said in a statement today.
On July 10, the Department of Statistics Malaysia reported that the country’s Poverty Line Income (PLI) has been revised to RM2,208 per household in 2019, compared to RM980 per household in 2016.
He said that UNI-MLC welcomed the government’s move and added that these pensioners have contributed their best services to the country and society and supported the government’s privatisation policy, in line with the government’s plan then.
Therefore, he said that UNI-MLC, representing unions from government-linked companies (GLCs), hoped Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin would take into account the appeal for the well-being of the retirees. - Bernama
