YOURSAY 'BN has let Malaysians down. Obviously MTUC is also a victim. But it must now help to put things right for the country.'

MTUC offers quid pro quo deal with Pakatan

your say Fairnessforall: Pakatan Rakyat should accept this deal and agree to it as the amendments to the Employment Act is clearly a way for the Umno cronies to make more money, as all licences to supply workers will only be given to their cronies.

This is a chance for Pakatan to work with MTUC (Malaysian Trades Union Congress) and overthrow the corrupted BN government.

Anonymous_4182: Let's have a ‘Malaysia for all Malaysians', union member or otherwise. BN has let all Malaysians down for reasons known to all of us. Obviously MTUC is also a victim. But it must now help to put things right for the country.

It must be realistic with productivity, wages and reasonable terms for their members. To expect a blank cheque from PKR is not going to fly.

We must rebuild Malaysia for FDI (foreign direct investment) to come in, thus creating employment. All terms that are fair should be entertained by PKR.

Let MTUC be the first to cast the patriotic stone for this damaged country.

Thus far, Malaysia as a country comes second for policymakers; it is sharing the national coffers for themselves that has been the priority.

Changeagent: I can empathise with the MTUC concerns. But I think they too need to come to terms with the changes in the market place.

The Employment Act is out of date, and not in line with the changes in the industry landscape. Political parties will need to innovate with resourceful and better policies that focus on skills development that will ensure employability and relevance.

If we can do away with the millions wasted on study trips, reallocate resources from public universities to better use, stop leakages of public expenditure, stop useless programmes on public campaigns - there is more than enough resources to upscale, and even make our people better.

We need people to be better skilled and paid to drive our economy. The BN government has failed. No wonder the unions have no faith in them, no surprises here.

Nik V: Pakatan should not accept such deals as this will make it no different than BN. What Pakatan can do is to promise to look into necessary amendments, which will be fair.

But Pakatan can only do this when it has captured the federal government. If Pakatan fails to deliver within its term, then MTUC can see fit to do whatever is necessary. Pakatan should not allow itself to be held ransom by any party.

Voice: We all have to understand why MTUC have to come to this level to moot an agreement with Pakatan. The reason is obvious; protect the interest of their 800,000 members. Their intention is good.

They are not asking too much or something very unreasonable that the country is not able to give. They only want to block some amendments to the Act which they opine is very harmful and unfair to the workers.

Maybe both sides should work out a mechanism that can accommodate each other rather that to request PKR to give them a blank cheque, which is not healthy.

Onyourtoes: I think many have missed the point when discussing labour issues in Malaysia today. With the unfettered entry of foreign workers, you tell me which employers would think of mechanisation, automation, R&D (research and development) and productivity enhancement?

Foreign workers have completely distorted the relative pricing of labour and capital, resulting in cheap labour intensity and rudimentary production function (this is essentially Economics 101, but even that I think no one in the government really cares about this).

All Malaysians must ask themselves one simple question: Is Malaysia really short of workers or is it because employers prefer to pay lower wages (and with zero benefits) by engaging foreign workers?

There is no way to tell - unless foreign workers are paid similar wages and benefits like the locals, then we would know whether or not there is genuine shortage.

Just look at the number of government servants employed. What does that tell you? It is an indication that Malaysians are being replaced by foreign workers and these people have nowhere to go except to seek employment with the government.

But how many unproductive jobs can the government create?

MTUC, even without the pending Employment Bill, you should be discerning enough to know that the present government is anti-workers, pro-employers and pro all the vested interest groups of foreign workers.

With floodgate wide open to foreign workers and with employers in total oblivion to R&D and productivity enhancement, Malaysian workers have three choices:

1) Downgrade our standard of living to that of Indonesia, Vietnam or Nepal.

2) Migrant to become workers in higher-income countries like Singapore, Japan or the West.

3) If you are lucky enough, become one of the government servants (but even this will soon come to the end).

Dark Knight: Let us collectively put an end to corporate greed. Let us stop crony capitalism. Let us eradicate the nexus between government and big business.

 

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