‘Call off new minimum wage scheme’

JOHOR BARU: Small and medium-sized industries are urging the Government to call off the new mi­­ni­­mum wage scheme and let the market forces decide on the pay scale for employees.

The decision to impose the mi­­ni­­mum wage should not be done for the sake of achieving a high income nation status, said SMI Association of Malaysia national president Teh Kee Sin (pic).

The wage, he said, should correspond with an employee’s ­pro­­ductivity level.

 

He felt only those who were productive and contributing to the growth of a company should be duly rewarded.

“We are not against a high sala­ry, but it should not be at our expense including the manufacturing cost which is getting higher every day,” said Teh.

He was asked to comment on reports that the new minimum wage of RM1,000 for the peninsula, RM900 for Sarawak and RM850 for Sabah and Labuan were likely to be implemented by year-end after Cabinet’s approval.

The current minimum wage is RM900 for the peninsula and RM800 for Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan im­­ple­­mented on Jan 1 last year.

“We have not fully recovered from the minimum wage imposed on Jan 1, and now we will have to bear additional costs with the new minimum wage,” said Teh.

He claimed that the National Wages Consultative Council did not consult with the industries and chambers of commerce be­­fore making their recommendations.

Johor Indian Business Associa­tion president P. Sivakumar said the Government should instead give incentives to the private sector to provide skills training for their workers.

Johor Lorry Operators Associa­tion president Anthony Tan said members were already paying their drivers between RM1,000 and RM1,200 as basic salary.