Factory workers in the country have suffered enough and a worker's group wants to bring their plight to the attention of the highest level of government - the prime minister himself.

The Gabungan Pekerja Kilang & Kesatuan Sekerja (GPKK), a worker's bureau under Jerit, today urged Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to intervene immediately in the wage problems faced by factory workers in the country.

GPKK coordinator A Sivarajan said that factory workers were suffering more as a result of the recent petrol hike and would be further burdened with the implementation of the toll hike on Jan 1.

"Their wages must be increased to a minimum of RM900 a month. The present salary of RM400-500 a month is considered cheap labour," he told reporters after handing over a memorandum on the plight of factory workers to the Prime Minister's Department in Putrajaya this morning.

The memorandum was accepted by the PM's private secretary, Ahmad Yaacob.

Siva also called for the proposed Minimum Wage Act to be drafted with priority for those earning low wages, including the 4.5 million factory workers in Malaysia.

"The Minimum Wage Act should be implemented immediately for the sake of factory workers and other low-income workers," he said.

Busy Abdullah

"We wish to urge the prime minister to stop the cheap labour policy in order to attract foreign investment and immediately implement the Minimum Wage Act," Siva said, adding that the prime minister should treat this matter seriously and urgently.

GPKK, he said, was waiting for a meeting with the PM and that they had waited 90 days for an appointment. The last reply they received from the PM's Office was that Abdullah was very busy and could not meet them.

Today, GPKK also sought automatic membership of workers in all industrial sectors in trade unions.

According to Siva, previous memorandums submitted to the PM were handled by the Human Resources Ministry's secretary-general George Thomas but they were disappointed with the non-action after that.

He explained that GPKK had been holding meetings with George and Deputy Human Resources Minister Abdul Rahman but nothing was resolved.

"It is therefore important for the matter to be brought up to the attention of the PM and his cabinet because this is one serious issue left unresolved for a long time," Siva added.