Friday, April 25, 2014

MALAYSIA:::MTUC expects 100,000 for May Day rally


PETALING JAYA — The Malaysian Trades Union Congress expects at least 100,000 participants comprising workers and representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to attend its May Day rally at Dataran Petaling Jaya on Thursday.
The rally, which MTUC said would be peaceful, is to champion the rights of workers and raise issues affecting them.
At a press conference at the MTUC office in Subang Jaya, the congress’s chairman, Wan Noorulazhar Hanafiah, stressed the rally and the one planned planned for Dataran Merdeka were not the same event.

“Our event has been approved and we have a permit,” he said.
“Many people, especially the workers, are confused between the two events and I would like to clear the air.
“Some of the issues to be raised during the event are minimum wage, government service tax, union-busting and overpricing of goods.”
Rally chairman Abdullah Sani, who is also the Kuala Langat MP, said the MTUC would hold a motor convoy on Sunday, starting from Dataran Kemerdekaan Shah Alam and ending in Kuala Lumpur.
“The convoy is a build-up to the rally,” he said.
“From 7am to noon, about 50 cars will depart from Shah Alam and will stop at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman and Dataran Merdeka before ending in Brickfields.
“We will distribute 50,000 pamphlets along the way to alert the public about the May 1 rally.”
Abdullah said the government had been slow in addressing workers’ needs and hoped the rally would prompt action and resolve the issues.
“For many years, workers have not felt being celebrated and appreciated during Workers Day,” he said.
“Instead they are persecuted on a daily basis, stripped of their rights, and have no voice because they fear their employers.
“It is a sad situation and that is why this year we want come together on a big scale to fight for our workers rights and ensure the government will take action against the injustice the workers have been facing for way too long.”
He assured the public the rally would be safe as it had been planned carefully.
“We will meet with the prime minister on Monday to discuss problems that will be raised before the rally day so he will be informed,” he said.
“We also have enough security and help from various NGOs to ensure the programme runs smoothly.”
He denied rumours the event was planned deliberately during US President Barrack Obama’s visit to gain attention, saying the timing was coincidental.

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