PUTRAJAYA: The government has increased the allocation for the Trade Union Affairs Programme (PHEKS) to RM10mil this year, says Steven Sim.
The Human Resources Minister said the increased allocation aims to strengthen trade unions by enhancing skills training and adopting the use of technology.
“I hope that with the larger funding through the collaborative efforts of the Human Resources Ministry and the leadership of the trade union movement, we can attract more workers to become union members.
“The benefit of being a union member is that it strengthens a platform for workers to negotiate for better welfare at their workplaces,” he said yesterday.
Sim said the government had also agreed to increase the allocation for the Training and Education Programme cluster under PHEKS to RM30,000 due to its overwhelming response the previous year.
“The main goal of this cluster is to enhance knowledge about the benefits of union membership and to train union members to become future leaders, in line with the aim of empowering workers and trade unions,” he said, Bernama reported.
PHEKS, managed by the Trade Union Affairs Department, is an initiative to support trade unions through training and education programmes, trade union movement research, academic writing and purchase of IT equipment such as the digitisation of union-management records.
The government allocated RM2.6mil for the programme in 2023 and RM5.8mil last year.
Sim also said that the ministry would establish several task forces to review overlapping and irrelevant acts under its jurisdiction.
“These task forces will involve not only ministry personnel but also representatives from unions, employers and academia.
“It will be reviewed this year, and I will make announcements from time to time,” he added.
