What is the Employment and Labour Policy commitments by the Opposition?
100% migrant workers in manufacturing...WHY? Malaysia does this to exploit 'low wages' of migrant workers...just to increase GDP? Listening advice to 'World Bank' - well that is certainly an institution not interested in human rights and justice for workers...
Factories can use 100% migrant workers - an UMNO-BN new policy? What about local Malaysian workers.
Previously, the policy was ONLY migrant workers if factories really tried but could not get local workers.
Then, the policy seem to have changed to allow use of not more than 15% migrant workers...
Not sure, when this permissible percentage was increased, because according to the news report, it seems it was 1 local worker to 3 foreign worker...but now, 100% migrant workers allowed for factories that makes products for export...
Now, a lot of new CHINA Chinese companies and employers prefer to use their fellow countrymen as workers... Is that one of the factors why this UMNO-BN government was forced to change policy and allow for 100% migrant workers..
What is really the Malaysian policy is most UNCLEAR - when did the 15% maximum migrant workers in a factory/workplace change?
Did they suddenly change it to a 15% migrant worker policy overall in our labour force?[This is different, that means at some factories/workplace, there could be more than 30% or even 100%?
The UMNO-BN government is not transparent about its policies(and when it changes) - I tried looking in the internet, and could not find it...
EXPORT-ORIENTED manufacturers can now hire foreign workers to make up 100% of their production staff, Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed has announced...The decision was made because Malaysians are not keen to work in production lines, he said, adding that the ratio of local to foreign workers in the manufacturing sector was currently 1:3
Well, do not almost all electronic factories makes products for export? And how many other factories? Many ...
WHY? Well the UMNO-BN's concern is not Malaysian workers, or increasing wages of workers - but rather continue the exploitation of 'cheap' migrant labour...
In a statement yesterday, the bank[The World Bank] said its simulations showed that a 10% net increase in low-skilled foreign workers raised the nation's real gross domestic product by 1.1% as the workers kept salaries low, which, in turn, lowered prices and production costs, and boosted exports.
YES - as it is for the EMPLOYER, Malaysian workers cost more per month compared to migrant workers - thanks to the UMNO-BN government policies.
- Every month for a Malaysian worker, an employer has to contribute an additional 13% for EPF ... For a migrant worker, no such obligation..
- LEVY - it was supposed to be paid by the Employer, but then they have made it that the worker pays it, or has it finally changed to employer must pay...
- Therefore, Employer pays much less for a migrant worker compared to a local worker - and, of course there is greater control on migrant workers(they cannot run away), and they also can easily be made to work long hours - overtime(Remember, Malaysia allows for 105 hours overtime per month - about 4 hours every working day). Wages of migrant workers are low - no need for annual increment, etc...
- In Singapore, they make sure that the LEVY payable by Employer, is equivalent to the additional 13% the employer has to pay ...
Singapore - Migrant Worker Employer Pay Levy, Quotas, Increased levy as you increase percentage of MW? Protection of local workers?
The main reason for the bringing in foreign factories/companies should be to create employment for Malaysian workers....but that seems to be forgotten by this UMNO-BN government...now, it seems to increase GDP(but as I pointed out in earlier posts, GDP really is not indication of economic well being of individuals and their families, and it may also not be a good indicator for the country - GNP maybe a better indicator.)
GDP - Is UMNO-BN borrowing to increase spending to increase GDP? Debt RM908.7 Billion, Reserves RM426Billion only?
People No Money for Basic Goods, but UMNO-BN saying our economy good and growing?
The UMNO-BN government says that Malaysians are not interested in the jobs - well, if the jobs are still paying so low wages ..and employers are making employees work overtime almost every day...surely Malaysian workers may not be interested.
If there is cheap migrant workers to exploit, little are the chances that wages of Malaysian workers will increase...or will local workers even have employment - secure employment until retirement?
SUPPLY AND DEMAND - well, if there a demand for workers, then naturally employers will try to woo workers with better wages and benefits, and better working conditions. But, with a government willing to allow migrant workers in so easily, the chances of wages, rights and conditions improving is just not there.
In fact, under UMNO-BN - Malaysian workers have lost(or are losing) employment security - regular employment until retirement/retrenchment/guilty for serious employment misconduct. This government has simply allowed employers to use short-term(fixed-term employment contract), which normally is not for more than 1 year. And even if the work exists, employers choose to get new workers rather than extend the employment contract of an existing worker. The UMNO-BN failed to create laws that limit and/or control the usage of short-term contracts...
- There are NO LIMITS placed on the percentage of short-term contract employees(Why not? The government could have limited it to not more than 5%-10%, and also only for work that is not the core business of the factory/company)
- There is NO law that prevents an employer from simply terminating the contract at the end of year(or sooner), and taking a new employee to thereafter do the work...(Even in Indonesia, there a rights to have a contract to be renewed but not more than 3 years, for thereafter the worker will be deemed regular employee.)
- Then, the government since about 2006, allowed the 'contractor for labour' scheme - Now, you may end up working for a big factory, but you are not an 'employee' - so the factory/company that you are working do not even have employer obligations towards you. Money is paid to the contractor for labour, who tend deducts their 'share' and pays you the rest. If the factory/company where you were actually working pays all to the worker - surely then there will be higher wages/income for the worker?
- In this day and age, when most, even young workers, elect to buy homes, cars, etc fast by taking loans, many of which may burden them with monthly loan paying obligations which can last for even 20-30 years, employment security is a major issue. Loan repayment obligations do not stop when one is out of work, and finding a new job with the same or better pay around the place you have settled with your family is not that easy ...and becoming more and more difficult...
LOW SKILLED WORKERS - Look at the impact or automation and robotization, skilled jobs are disappearing - and all that remains are low-skilled jobs. In an electronic factory, all that most workers do is place the item they are working on in a machine(that does all the work), and then transfer it to the next machine - this is a low-skilled job that any new worker can pick up with maybe 1-2 days training...
Government eases foreign worker policy for manufacturers
Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed says
manufacturing companies cannot expand their businesses without manpower.
– The Malaysian Insight file pic, October 11, 2017.
EXPORT-ORIENTED manufacturers can now hire foreign workers to
make up 100% of their production staff, Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan
Mohamed has announced.
The move comes after the World Bank released a statement on Monday
urging the government to review its migration policies to enjoy
potential greater economic benefits from cheaper, lower-skilled migrant
workers.
Nur Jazlan said priority would be given to manufacturing companies
that export their products, but added that foreign workers can only be
hired as low-level production workers, The Star reports.
He said the main problem faced by manufacturing companies was the
lack of manpower needed to expand their business to meet the growing
demand from international buyers.
The decision was made because Malaysians are not keen to work in
production lines, he said, adding that the ratio of local to foreign
workers in the manufacturing sector was currently 1:3.
In its report, the World Bank said its simulations showed a 10% net
increase in low-skilled foreign workers raises the nation’s real gross
domestic product by 1.1% as the workers kept salaries low, which, in
turn, lowered prices and production costs, and boosted exports. – October 11, 2017.- Malaysian Insight
Ease migration policy or lose out on potential gains, says World Bank
THE World Bank said Malaysia’s lack of a comprehensive policy on
foreign workers is costing the country potential economic gains from the
region’s increasing rate of migration, reported The Edge.
In a statement yesterday, the bank said its simulations showed that a
10% net increase in low-skilled foreign workers raised the nation's
real gross domestic product by 1.1% as the workers kept salaries low,
which, in turn, lowered prices and production costs, and boosted
exports.
“In receiving countries, foreign workers can fill labour shortages
and promote sustained economic growth if migration policies are aligned
with their economic needs.
“Inappropriate policies and ineffective institutions mean that the
region is missing opportunities to gain fully from migration,” said the
bank's chief economist for the East Asia and Pacific region, Sudhir
Shetty, in conjunction with the release of the Migrating to Opportunity:
Overcoming Barriers to Labour Mobility in Southeast Asia report.
The bank said a lack of a comprehensive legislative framework on
foreign workers had resulted in problems in Malaysia, leading to
frequent policymaking by the Home Ministry or Human Resources Ministry.
The statement noted that current legislation focused on punishing
undocumented foreign workers and their employers, and ensuring locals
were not put at a disadvantage in the job market due to the presence of
foreigners.
It said Malaysia needed an immigration system that was more attuned
to the nation's economic needs, and that the country should collaborate
closely with sending countries.
“For instance, Malaysia imposes a levy on foreign workers in part to
control the number of low-skilled migrants who enter the country.
“However, even as the economy has evolved, the levy has been left
unadjusted for significant periods, for example, in 1999 to 2005, 2005
to 2009, and 2011 to 2016.”
It was reported that the World Bank disputed the purpose of the levy,
and that the responsibility for payment had gone back and forth from
foreign workers in the 1990s to 2000s, to employers in 2009, and back to
the workers in 2013, suggesting a “lack of consensus” on the levy's
objective.
The bank report said such restrictive policies were influenced by the
perception that an influx of foreigners would have a negative impact on
the country, despite there being evidence to the contrary.
“On several occasions, these policies have been quickly reversed,
revised or delayed because of public reaction,” said the bank, adding
that this occurred twice last year following a large increase in the
foreign workers' levy.
Between 1995 and 2015, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore hosted 96% of
Asean migrants, where 6.5 million intra-regional workers from Cambodia,
Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar and Malaysia were hosted.
Of the total, 22% arrived in Malaysia in 2015, making up 8% of the country’s population. – October 10, 2017, Malaysian Insight.
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