Malaysian Trade Council Union has reiterated its call to all its 540,000 members not to sign up for the EPF annuity scheme (Epfas) until all issues raised by MTUC are resolved.

In a statement today to malaysiakini , MTUC's secretary general G Rajasekaran said that he was happy that the worker's representatives in the EPF Board of Directors have jointly stated their concerns about the Epfas, although they stated that the scheme was good and worthy of consideration.

Zainal Rampak, one of the worker's representatives who is also MTUC president, said yesterday that the workers' core concerns were that the premium was too high and the benefits to beneficiaries were insufficient.

He also urged all participating insurance companies not to harass or exert pressure on workers to sign up for the scheme.

Rajasekaran admitted that there were indeed differences in opinion between him and Zainal regarding the Epfas.

There were also rumblings within MTUC that the Epfas' boycott call from MTUC was mooted by Rajasekaran himself, without consensus from other members in MTUC.

"But this issue of the EPF has been brought up in MTUC's Special Delegates Conference in March," Rajasekaran said, adding that the workers' representatives should consider MTUC's resolution when negotiating with the EPF board to improve the scheme.

One of MTUC's resolutions is a proposal to have contributors leave a portion of their savings with the EPF and collect their dividends on a monthly basis upon retirement.