Instead of the salary of Indonesian maids, the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) wants the government to negotiate and

reduce the cost of their recruitment.

MTUC vice-president A Balasubramaniam said currently, maids were unduly burdened with extra cost which they had to pay to recruiting agents.

According to him, before the Indonesian government imposed the ban on its maids, a year ago, the recruiting fee was in the region of RM8,000 each.

Part of the money was deducted by the employers via the maid’s salary, which meant that they (maids) had to work for six months without pay.

"This system is most unfair to the maids as it is akin to forced labour," he told Bernama today.

Balasubramaniam was commenting on a statement by Human Resources Minister Dr S Subramaniam that the Indonesian government's demand for RM800 minimum wage for maids could not be implemented as Malaysia did not have a minimum wage structure.

He said this was one of the main reasons why the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Malaysia and Indonesia could not be implemented.

On the RM800 salary, Balasubramaniam said a survey conducted by MTUC early this year, showed that some employers were willing to pay RM800 per month to Indonesian maids, provided the agency fees were reduced.

He said the survey also revealed employers were willing to pay higher salaries to the maids - instead of higher fees to the agents.

As an alternative, he said the government should take steps to reduce the dependence of maids among Malaysian households.

This could be done by providing crèches and child centres so that working mothers could leave their children in safe environment, he said, adding that the private sector could also assist the government by setting up their own centres for employees.

- Bernama