Workers say emphatic 'NO' to GST

Steaming over the impending Goods and Services Tax (GST) about 500 people took to the streets this morning in a show of protest.

"The idea of GST is to make our economy private sector-driven at the expense of the workers and the poor," said PSM central committee member and Sungai Siput MP, Dr D Jeyakumar.

"Of course the corporate tax will be lowered but the price of goods will just keep on rising," he told Malaysiakini after the May Day rally this morning.

And under the umbrella of NGO network Jaringan Rakyat Tertindas (Jerit), May Day rallies have been organised every May 1 for the past 16 years.

But the rallies of the recent years did not see this much action until today.

"The workers realise that, with the implementation of the GST, it will just make them poorer," said Jeyakumar ( right ).

The GST bill was tabled for the first reading last December but the government postponed the second reading on the grounds that it needed to obtain more feedback from the public.

In March, a coalition of activist and opposition parties dubbed Protes had geared up to demonstrate outside Parliament on the day the bill was to be debated, however, Second Finance Minister Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah announced its postponement at the eleventh hour.

Following this, the triumphant coalition called off the protest and declared a battle won, only to converge today in an effort to kill the bill.

The government had justified the necessity of GST citing the need to boost the country's revenue thereby reducing its heavy reliance on oil income but oppostion detractors argued that the tax will punish the poor.

May Day demands

Apart from the total abolishment of the GST, Jerit has also come up with 15 other demands, among them:

• Maintain corporate tax at 27%. Any reduction will move taxation burden to the workers;

• Introduce a Minimum Wage Act;

• Set up a workers' retrenchment fund to assist those who have lost their jobs;

• Urge the government to be an International Labour Organisation Convention signatory on domestic help;

• 90 days of maternity leave for women;

• Ensure that work places are free from discrimination against women and pass an Anti-Sexual Harassment Act;

• Equal rights and protection for migrant workers and refugees and,

• Cease privatisation of key services such as water and medical services.

 

May Day: Police arrest six anti-GST protesters

VIDEOS

Police arrest six anti-GST protesters l 7.07 min

Today would have been peaceful if... l 5.12 min

The May Day declaration l 9.48 min