PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) is puzzled by the government’s figures for workers needed to meet the country's labour demand.
MTUC president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud said while the congress was equally concerned about the labour shortage, it questioned whether the Government had conducted a study before announcing the figures.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had said on Thursday that the Government had approved an intake of 169,000 Indonesian workers. The Government had also announced earlier that it was planning to bring in 100,000 Pakistanis.
The MTUC, Syed Shahir said, was not against the hiring of foreign labour but the interests of local workers must be looked after.
“Foreign workers leave after two or three years but the locals stay on, so they must get reasonable wages, increments and other perks in the long run,” he said.
Malaysian Employers Federation executive director Shamsuddin Bardan doubted if the demand for Pakistani workers would hit 100,000.
Meanwhile, employers bringing in new workers through the 11 one-stop centres in Indonesia and two in the Philippines are now allowed to defer payment of the levy on their workers, reports Bernama.
Immigration Department enforcement director Datuk Ishak Muhammad said yesterday that they had a month to settle the levy after the workers had been brought in.
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