Increased levy may turn foreign workers into slaves, says PSM
The hike in levy on foreign workers and the increased deductions on their monthly salary may turn these workers into indentured slaves in all but name, says Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM).
"Since the compulsory implementation of minimum wages in 2013, employers were given the flexibility to deduct the annual levy payments from the foreign workers' monthly salary," said PSM secretary-general A Sivarajan.
"When the levy was RM1,250, a sum of RM104 would be deducted monthly. Now with the new levy rate RM2,500, the workers would suffer a deduction of RM208 per month from the meager minimum wage of RM900! This is outrageous," he said.
He said instead of transferring the burden to the workers, employers should bear the cost for going the cheaper path of using foreign labour.
"Levy should serve its purpose as a premium the employers have to pay if they employ foreign workers instead of local workers. What purpose does it serve if the burden is passed on to the workers?"
"The workers have already paid their part of the cost through recruitment fees. Why should they be burdened further with increased levy?" he said in a statement.
He also refuted Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's justification that the increase in levy is to absorb extra government costs as foreign workers were also enjoying various benefits such as subsidised prices for food and other necessities, which were only meant for Malaysians.
"What is the minister talking about when all government hospitals have been asked to charge full fee for all foreign workers and migrants," he said.
"This further suppression of wages will further enhance ‘forced labour’ conditions already prevailing in Malaysia among foreign labour.
“With lesser income it means that the workers will be forced to work longer hours to pay back the loan they took from their home country (to pay for the recruitment fee)."
Sivarajan alleged that many foreign workers were already held 'ransom' by manpower agencies until they paid up their loan, in addition to the monthly deductions.
"The workers even now are already toiling in the factories for more than 12 hours a day, seven days a week, to top up their minimum wage with overtime salary," he said.
He urged the Human Resources and the Home Ministries to immediately stop deducting foreign workers' wages "as it is an inhumane act to rob the workers of their hard-earned wages".
Zahid recently announced the increased levy rates for foreign workers as part of the review on government finances to procure more funds. The move is touted to bring in an extra RM2.5 billion in revenue.
The decision was, however, met with brickbats from both employers and labour movements.
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