Thursday, August 30, 2007

What is fair wages Mr Prime Minister?

Continuing yesterdays posting, we shall ask this question to our Prime Minister, "What is fair wages, Mr Prime Minister?"
Even though you said that no nation whishes to keep wages artificially low, dont you realise that is exactly what you let your people do?
You have done nothing to dismantle the draconian laws that prevent workers from forming strong unions to fight for their due rights and compensations.
You let in millions of immigrants, most of them illegals to enter the country and compete with local workers for jobs, which results in suppression of wage rate. Has our wage rate gone up in the past 10 years? Has the price of goods gone up in the past 10 years? (Certainly, and by a huge amount.)

See what your Human Resources Minister has done, he formulate a law that disadvantage workers more. Read in Malaysiakini.
Read the letter from JERIT.
“Economic progress should improve the lives of all who contribute to its growth,” he said.
But so far, the people who contribute and sacrifice most for this economic progress have receive nothing, and worse their lives are getting worse by the day.


Abdullah: Pay workers fair wages

KUALA LUMPUR: All workers should be paid wages which are commensurate with their productivity and value addition, said Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

“This is only fair and appropriate,” the Prime Minister said in his speech at the UNI APRO 2nd Asia-Pacific Regional Conference. UNI is short for Union Network International.

He believed that “no nation wishes to suppress wages or keep wages artificially low in order to attract investment.”

Nevertheless, he said what was “fair and appropriate” to employers and employees should also be dictated by prevailing market conditions and relevant commercial considerations.

“After all, companies and nations must be bound by rules of the market economy. Nations can and must establish sufficient protection against unfettered markets,” he added.

Abdullah said nations should understand the law of supply and demand, which ultimately means that nations and workers should ensure that they could offer value to the world’s markets.

“Wages, welfare and well-being (of the people) depend on how much value one can produce,” he said.

It is vital for governments and workers, he added, to share a strong understanding not only of each others’ needs but also of the challenges.

“With a strong understanding, we will see that economic progress and the advancement of living standards of workers need not conflict and can in fact go hand-in-hand.

“Economic progress should improve the lives of all who contribute to its growth,” he said.

Abdullah added that understanding how this could be achieved in the context of today’s world should be a task not only for governments but also for worker groups.

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