GEORGE TOWN – There is an urgent need for the government to migrate from the current minimum wage structure to one that is reflective of the spike in living costs and slow economic growth due to Covid-19, said a veteran unionist.
The Malaysian Trades Union Congress’ (MTUC) Penang chapter called on the government to refer to the 2018 study by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) as a starting point to change the minimum wage policy, which is out of touch with current living expenses.
Its secretary K. Veeriah said that a 2018 study by BNM showed that a single worker living in the Klang Valley needs to earn a minimum of RM2,700 per month, which is grossly above the country's minimum wage ceiling of RM1,200.
“There is a disparity with the figures reflecting what an average worker needs to survive. I think this has worsened as the pandemic derailed the economy,” he said in a statement recently.
He also echoed Sunway University business professor Yeah Kim Leng, who had opined that based on the current minimum wage of RM1,200, a worker needs to seek supplementary incomes.
“That is the reality,” said Veeriah.
He said that when prices of basic nutritional food items such as vegetables, fish, chicken, eggs, and even bread increase manifold, the plights of the marginalised segments of society become a cause for concern.
“Increasing costs of ikan kembung, sayur sawi, eggs, and bread translate to an erosion of the disposable income of the working population – a 20% increase in prices of essential nutritional food means 20% less of income to meet other financial commitments.
“The poor become poorer. There have been views expressed that there ought to be greater intervention by the government to introduce a price control mechanism, not only during festive seasons, but as an ongoing process,” he said.
Though economists argue against it, ostensibly on the premises that market forces ought to determine the impact of supply and demand on food prices, Veeriah said MTUC is certain that it is a misplaced argument as the most vulnerable segments of the country’s working population remain enslaved under the low and middle-income wage trap.
“It is therefore obvious that the government firstly has the choice of continuing to enforce price controls and providing subsidies, or secondly, migrating from a minimum wage system to a living wage module by using the BNM study as a benchmark on the matter,” he added. – The Vibes, November 28, 2021
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