Cuepacs is not involved in the "RM900 a month minimum wage campaign" which was launched by the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) last Friday, according to its secretary-general Abdul Rahman Manan.

However, Rahman told malaysiakini that his union is willing to have a meeting with MTUC officials to discuss the matter.

Cuepacs is the umbrella union for civil servants while MTUC represents the private sector's employees.

"We will listen first and do further study on the matter," he said, adding that the matter will be discussed during Cuepacs Congress Council meet in July.

During the campaign, members of MTUC will send about 10,000 Labour Day 2000 Declaration postcards to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Human Resource Minister Fong Chan Onn.

According to MTUC secretary-general, G. Rajasekaran, about two million workers in Malaysia will enjoy the benefits if the RM 900 minimum wage proposal if implemented.

Rahman said that while Cuepacs also believed in the implementation of a minimum wage, the quantum must correspond with the costs of living of different areas.

"We must go by the area as the cost of living varies in different areas," he said, citing the example that the cost of living for an employee in Kuala Lumpur is different from that of Kota Baru.

When queried whether Cuepacs is satisfied with the current pay received by the employees, Rahman said they are not.

However, he maintained the union will need to carefully study the proposal to set the minimum wage at RM900 as advocated by MTUC.

Rahman said that the basic salary of the Grade Two Support Group (the lowest paid group) in the government service is around RM500.

He said that with allowance and other incentives, these civil servants will only receive about RM600 plus a month.

"Six hundred ringgit don't amount to much for a person living in KL nowadays," he said.

MTUC sets the minimum wage at RM900 a month after calculating the basic needs of a single person.

Breakdown of RM900 Minimum Wage

Source: MTUC

Items Expenses (per month)
Meals and Refreshment (RM15.00 x 30 days) RM450
Accommodation RM135
Transport to work (RM5.00 x 26 days) RM130
EPF contribution RM99
Socso RM4
Others (clothing, entertainment, etc) RM82
Total RM 900