PM playing taichi on RM1.5k minimum wage - PSM

Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) today questioned the sincerity of Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob's administration in the implementation of the RM1,500 minimum wage.

In a statement, PSM deputy chairperson S Arutchelvan said the government should table a bill on implementing the RM1,500 minimum wage in the current parliamentary sitting.

This came after the prime minister said the government was committed to ensuring that permanent employees of government-linked companies (GLCs) and government-linked investment companies (GLICs) are paid at least RM1,500 a month. He also urged companies in the private sector to do so.

"Why not just raise the minimum wage to RM1,500 now? Why is the premier playing taichi? First Human Resources Minister M Saravanan praised two companies for raising the minimum wage to RM1,500 and now Ismail Sabri is asking GLCs to do so.

"With all the powers, why not go to Parliament and just do it since the opposition also supported an increase in the minimum wage.

"Again his statement talks about permanent jobs, meaning cleaners, for example, employed by contractors under GLC Edgenta will be denied the minimum wage of RM1,500.

"We urge a minimum wage of RM1,500 now which is actually much lower than what was proposed by the formula to calculate minimum wage," he said.

Previously, Ismail Sabri said the government was in the midst of engaging employers concerning the proposed minimum wage of RM1,500 to ensure it could be implemented in a holistic manner.

Saravanan also indicated that the proposed RM1,500 monthly minimum wage could be implemented before the end of this year.

The current monthly minimum wage in all city and municipal council areas is RM1,200 while it is RM1,100 in other areas.

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