Hospital union hopes to see its revival

Compiled by MAHADHIR MONIHULDIN, THO XIN YI and R. ARAVINTHAN 

CONTRACT cleaners at government hospitals nationwide will be voting on the proposal to revive workers’ union, Makkal Osai reported.

A union was set up 20 years ago to represent them but had been inactive until two years ago, the union’s new secretary, who was identified only as Thillaiammal, said.

The union held an annual gathering recently in Ipoh, which was attended by hospital cleaning workers from Ipoh, Taiping, Kampar, and Batu Gajah.

Thillaiammal said workers have been working for many years at the mercy of the contractors under short term contracts of six, 12 or 24 months.

The workers, he added, do not receive benefits such as annual pay raise, paid medical leave, annual leave and bonuses.

Secret voting by the members will take place in hospitals nationwide between August and November, committee member R. Arjunan said.

> Thousands of blue bottle jellyfish invaded several beaches in Mumbai, India, injuring more than 150 people, Malaysia Nanban reported.

Scores of beachgoers who were unaware of the jellyfish’s presence were stung and had to receive treatment for inflammation and rashes.

The deep-dwelling venomous jellyfish, also known as the Atlantic Portuguese man o’ war, are sometimes in the waters for a few days during monsoon seasons.

Experts said the sheer numbers this year was rare and they were around for far longer than usual, attributing the phenomenon to global warming and changing sea temperature.

?  The above article is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.