CUEPACS SARAWAK WANTS HIGHER FLOOR FOR MINIMUM WAGE

Borneo Post
4/5/2012

KUCHING: Congress of Union of Employees in the Public Service (Cuepacs) Sarawak Division, while warmly welcoming the minimum wage policy, thinks that the government should set a higher minimum monthly income for Sarawak and Sabah.Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had on Monday announced that the minimum wage for workers in the Peninsula would be RM900 per month while those in Sarawak, Sabah and Labuan would get a minimum of RM800.

Its secretary Ahmad Malie in a statement to The Borneo Post yesterday said although the division was all for the RM800 minimum wage for Sarawak and Sabah he asked why there had to be a difference of RM100 between the two regions.

“The minimum wage for Sarawak and Sabah should be more than that in the Peninsula as the high cost of living has more impact on the people in both of these states,” he said, reasoning if RM900 was the wage floor for the Peninsula the lowest quantum for Sarawak and Sabah should be RM1,000.

As such, Ahmad, who is also the president of Sarawak Bumiputera Teachers Union (SBTU), is calling on the government to review the wage structure for Sarawak and Sabah by taking into account factors such as cost of living and poverty index.Nonetheless, he admitted that by setting the minimum wage the government had shown that it was very much concerned with the pay structure in Malaysia, particularly for employees in the private sector. On top of that, he said, the move would also help prevent employers from setting their own minimum wage structures.

“With the introduction of the policy, Cuepacs Sarawak Division is relieved that there would at least be a standard guideline for employers to set the minimum monthly income,” he said.

At the same time, he expressed hope that the new policy would help reduce the financial burden of the people.