Parliament will push through amendments in early December to the Sarawak Labour Ordinance 1952, a move the Opposition in Sarawak have already described as almost certain to erode state rights.

While there is no quarrel about the move to give workers in the State better rights and privileges to bring them at par with their counterparts in Peninsular Malaysia, there is, however, concern across the political divide in Sarawak on whether it would infringe on certain state rights that form part of the Malaysia Agreement or the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) Report.

The IGC Report provides for certain guarantees and rights that cannot be taken away from Sarawak as well as Sabah when the two Borneon States together with the then Federation of Malaya and Singapore formed the Federation of Malaysia in 1963.

This includes immigration autonomy powers for the States.

One of the issues arising from the proposed amendments to the Sarawak Labour Ordinance concerns the removal of state power to appoint the Director of Labour in Sarawak.

Under the proposed amendments, the Minister of Human Resources will instead make such an appointment 'in consultation with the state government.' State officials see this as an attempt to erode certain aspects of state rights.

Mere courtesy

"What this implies is quite clear - the Federal Government will make such an appointment and consultation with the State Government is merely a courtesy," DAP Bandar Kuching MP Chong Chieng Jen told malaysiakini today.

He said he expected the proposed amendments to be tabled in Parliament on Dec 6 and that there would be a lively debate involving BN and Opposition MPs from the two states.

Chong who is also Sarawak DAP secretary said he would call for the state to retain the final say on the appointment of the Director of Labour as well as other top-notch officers.

He would also call for the avoidance of any duplication in the mechanisms for arbitration of industrial disputes by leaving such cases to be handled only by the industrial relations court instead of also similarly empowering the Director of Labour.

Sarawak Barisan Nasional MPs and state assemblypersons were briefed yesterday on the proposed amendments to the ordinance to give them 'a comprehensive understanding' of the state government's stance so they could participate 'positively' during the debate in Parliament, according to Deputy Chief Minister Dr George Chan.

Officials told malaysiakini the briefing followed public concerns on the possible implications of the latest moves by the federal authorities to change the state's 'outdated' own labour laws.

At a recent meeting chaired by the Minister of Human Resources Dr Fong Chan Onn, state representatives were assured that the federal authorities would not make any decision unilaterally but would consult the state government.

No black-and-white guarantee

A Sarawak labour union official William Ghani who attended the meeting said that the procedure was merely administrative in nature and the assurance or guarantee was not in black and white.

The Sarawak Labour Ordinance became a law of Malaysia when Sarawak became an integral part of Malaysia in 1963.

The ordinance has provided protection for Sarawakians against floods of workers from other states. Non-Sarawakians require work permits that are issued by the immigration department after approval is given by the state government.

The state government has opted to amend the ordinance instead of an extension of the Employment Act 1955 (of Peninsular Malaysia) to Sarawak as had been originally proposed.

Negotiations started in the early 1980s.

No reason was given why it has taken so long for state and federal authorities to finally agree on updating the state labour laws to provide for better protection and rights for workers in Sarawak.

It is, however, believed that this could be due to the reluctance of Sarawak to concede anything on the matter of state rights and the extreme caution taken by the Federal authorities not to force anything on the state that it does not welcome.

Government lawyers are now working to fine-tune the amendments before they are rushed to the government printer in time for tabling in early December and to be gazetted soon after as a new enforceable law.

Ghani said the proposed amendments to the labour ordinance would bring about significant benefits to workers in Sarawak.

As at the end of October this year, there were a total of 175,770 registered workers in key sectors of the state's economy. Of this, 117,264 were foreign workers, mostly Indonesians, employed in manufacturing, plantation, construction and services sectors.

Locals across these industries numbered only 57,009 and about 1500 were from Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia.