Deceived? Well, according to the President of the Malaysian Trade Union Congress(MTUC), after he went and met the Minister on 3/10/2011 was that the Minister besides saying that he would look into the matter also said that it will not be speedily tabled and passed, but will be tabled only at the end of the month.
But, today, I was shocked that the Minister may not have kept his word to Khalid as this Bill was suddenly tabled on 6/10/2011 and passed speedily...;
Khalid (photo) arrived from the meeting at about 11.15am and told the crowd that the proposed amendment would only be tabled at the end of this month.
He said he had submitted a letter of protest to Subramaniam and urged the government to withdraw the proposed amendment altogether.
“And the minister had agreed to look into the matter,” said Khalid.
Urging Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to intervene, he also said that MTUC would not hesitate to hold another picket if the government was adamant about the amendment.
“But such a decision will not come from me alone. It will be the decision of the our general workers’ council,” said Khalid.
October 06, 2011 23:26 PM
Employment Bill Passed After Five Hours Of Debate
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 (Bernama) -- The Employment (Amendment) Bill 2011, which received strong resistance from opposition members of Parliament, was passed after undergoing more than five hours of debate in the Dewan Rakyat Thursday.
In tabling the second reading of the bill, Minister of Human Resources Datuk S. Subramaniam said the amended act was to enable a more systematic monitoring and control of labour supply agencies especially in isolated areas.
Apart from that, the ministry would also have a comprehensive record of workers to facilitate monitoring.
In winding up the debate on the bill, Subramaniam said the registration of sub-contractors with the ministry would also ensure outsourcing was not a culture of the employment sector.
The issue of labour supply agency registration was hotly debated by opposition members who wanted the bill to be repealed and the recruitment of workers as well as their welfare to be managed directly by the employer.
Among those who objected to the bill were Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid (PKR-Kuala Langat), M.Kulasegaran (DAP-Ipoh Barat) and Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj (PSM-Sungai Siput).
"The Malaysian Trades Union Congress is also not in favour of the bill and they held a picket outside the Parliament on Monday," said Abdullah Sani.
Debating for the bill were Datuk Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) and Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar (BN-Rembau).
The Dewan sits again tomorrow.
-- BERNAMA- Bernama, 6/10/2011, Employment Bill Passed After Five Hours Of Debate
5 hours is not at all a long time for debate - as there was much protests not just just from workers, unions and civil society about the issue of (1) 'contractor for labour', (2) the retaining of the workers as employees of contractors for labour - meaning the workers supplied do not become employees of the principal, (3) the delay of one month in payment of overtime and for work on rest day/public holidays,....See earlier posts:-
A Government That Cares for Workers and Union Must Immediately Withdraw Bill to Amend Employment Act - Syed Shahir
Workers and MTUC say withdraw or we picket & Minister says we do this because workers requested
Sistem M-P, tak perlu pihak ketiga 'pemungut tol pekerja'...
Employment(Amendment) Bill 2011 - the Bill and why must oppose?
Malaysian workers will get payment for overtime only the following month - WHY
There was also much protest from women rights groups as well on that portion of the amendment that dealt with sexual harrassment. See earlier posts:- .Why 'Sexual Harassment' proposed amendments to Employment Act must be withdrawn?
Now, it has been passed by the Dewan Rakyat (the House of Representative), and after this it needs to be passed by the Senate and then receive Royal assent before it becomes law. So, there is still time to protest - and call on the BN Government and the Minister to withdraw this Employment (Amendment) Bill 2011.
Maybe, we need a referendum for this BN government to realise that Malaysians do want this amendment... but alas our BN government has no history of conducting referendums.
Or maybe, we need to show the government that the majority of Malaysians and workers in Malaysia do not want these amendments - maybe a petition...maybe a picket...or a peaceful assembly. Or maybe we may just vote them anti-worker anti-union MPs out come next elections. There can be no sitting back silently on this issue..
Tomorrow media will direct our attention to the BUDGET - and maybe the hope of the government is that this anti-worker anti-union anti-victims of sexual harassment amendment would just be 'side-lined' and forgotten by that BIG Budget debates...but let us not stop the struggle for justice...
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