COMMENT | Rafizi, don't kill minimum wage policy

“There are no plans to impose a mandatory RM1,500 minimum wage order for now following the adoption of a more progressive wage approach.”

- Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli

COMMENT | If there is no mandatory minimum wage, the workers will suffer and will be bullied because there has been no precedent of employers voluntarily raising the wages before.

Evading and protesting every time the minimum wage is introduced is a norm for employers and the Malaysian Employers Federation. People like Economy Ministry Rafizi Ramli who don’t earn a minimum wage will not understand this.

Millions of workers rely heavily on the minimum wage. Only two percent of workers come under Union Collective Agreement, leaving 98 percent of low-medium earning workers vulnerable.

Unlike the employers, we are alarmed and worried about the progressive wage policy. What will happen to the mandatory minimum wage?

The progressive wage policy...