Thousands of Malaysian workers staged a nation-wide protest Monday to demand the government set a 900 ringgit (260 dollars) monthly minimum wage for private sector employees. Officials from Malaysia's largest trade union estimated that 30,000 workers demonstrated at 13 locations throughout the country.
The group had targeted for 50,000 to participate in the protest. "This is the first time we are doing this. We want to show the government that the issue is indeed serious," G. Rajasekaran, secretary general of the Malaysian Trades Union Congress, told AFP. Police estimated 500 workers demonstrated near the office of the Employees Provident Fund in central Kuala Lumpur.
"After 50 years of independence, wages are at the poverty line," said one placard carried by a demonstrator. The demonstrations followed a memorandum of demands that was sent to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi a week ago. The group had then met with officials from the Ministry of Human Resources who had said they would set up councils to review low wages in certain sectors but this was not sufficient, Rajasekaran said.
"The demand for a minimum wage law is a 10-year battle ... They said they will set up councils for the hotel and security guard sectors. What about the rest?" he said, adding that the issue concerns about seven million workers. "We need a law for the minimum wage," Rajasekaran said. Basic wages of plantation, textile and garment and hotel workers in Malaysia remain below 400 ringgit a month, the union said.
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