Saturday, May 31, 2014

NAM Foreign Ministers Agree to Strengthen Solidarity


Algiers, May 30 (Prensa Latina) Foreign Ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) agreed on the need to strengthen mutual solidarity to materialize development projects, said sources here.
The statement is included in the Final Declaration of the 17th Meeting of Foreign Ministers, which was held on Wednesday and Thursday and attended by more than 80 foreign ministers and senior representatives.

Friday, May 30, 2014

MTUC HQ LABOUR BULLETIN APRIL / MEI 2014



MIGRANT WORKERS HEALTH RIGHTS UNMET

Migrant workers health rights unmet
Migrant farm workers Kenroy Williams (left) and Denville Clarke (right) have been fighting for compensation since a 2012 crash.
A recent court decision denying injured migrant farm workers health care after their
 work visas expire is only the
 latest attack on these workers' health rights, according to advocates, who say these
 labourers die, are injured or are exposed to carcinogenic chemicals with impunity in Canada.

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Calls for better treatment of migrant workers in Hong Kong

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A former Indonesian maid is leading calls for better treatment of migrant workers in Hong Kong. 


Time magazine recently named a 23-year-old Indonesian woman who'd been working as a maid in Hong Kong among its top 100 Most Influential People of 2014.
Erwiana Sulistyaningsih received extensive publicity after returning home with multiple injuries, allegedly inflicted by an employer who didn't even pay her.
Time magazine says her willingness to speak out has drawn attention to the plight of many thousands of vulnerable and often invisible migrant workers in Hong Kong.Samantha Yap reports on efforts to win higher wages and better conditions for these foreign workers in the Chinese special administrative region.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

SINGAPORE:::Govt finalising plans to extend re-employment age to 67

Govt finalising plans to extend re-employment age to 67: Amy Khor
SINGAPORE — The Government is finalising plans to extend the re-employment age from 65 to 67, with details coming up later ths year, said Senior Minister of State for Health and Manpower Amy Khor in Parliament today (May 27).
The Tripartite Committee on the Employability of Older Workers (Tricom) is ironing out its execution, including reviewing guidelines on wage adjustment and updating the law.

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Rona Hu shows the human side of migrant workers at Eastation Gallery

Mainland artist Rona Hu has always conveyed strong political and social messages through her work, and her latest exhibition, "The Underprivileged" is no exception.
As with many of her paintings, Hu captures typical people in contemporary society. For this show - which runs until May 31 - she focuses on rural migrant workers, an underprivileged class of more than 260 million people suffering from marginalisation and discrimination.

Monday, May 26, 2014

ASEAN standard on migrant workers expected in June

ASEAN member countries will likely unveil the standard on promoting and protecting the rights of migrant workers by next month, said Aye Myint, minister of Labour, Employment and Social Security.

Aye Myint was commenting on the outcome of the 23rdAsean Labour Ministers Meeting (ALMM) held in Nay Pi Taw on May 22.

MALAYSIA:::Cuepacs Suggests 'City Allowance' For Civil Servants Living In Cities

KUALA TERENGGANU, May 25 (Bernama) -- Cuepacs suggests the government to introduce a new allowance, especially for civil servants who live in the city to meet the escalating cost of living.

Its president, Azih Muda, said the 'City Allowance' (Elaun Bandar) proposed between RM400-RM500 a month would certainly reduce the financial burden faced by civil servants, especially those living in the cities and metropolitan areas like Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru and Ipoh.

"It's time for the government to introduce such an allowance because we are concerned that if we do not help civil servants, their focus in their work will be interrupted when they chose to do a side job to earn an additional income," he told reporters after a meeting with the state civil servants which was officiated by the director-general of Public Service, Tan Sri Mohamad Zabidi Zainal here, Sunday.

Elaborating further, Azih said the 'City Allowance' is different from the 'Cost of Living Allowance' (COLA) because it's only for about 65 per cent of civil servants who live in the city.

"We also hope the government will standardise the COLA for civil servants nationwide so that all can enjoy the same rate," he added.

-Bernama.

source:::sss

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Decent Work for Women and Men Assures a Better Deal for Families


This year’s theme “Families Matter for the Achievement of Development Goals” recognises the role of families and policies to support them in achieving internationally agreed development goals.
Today’s families are diverse, defying traditional models such as those based on a male breadwinner and jobs for life. There are now many single parent households – often women, and grandparent-headed households. In their different shapes and sizes, families are active agents of development. Yet their contribution, actual and potential, is often undervalued and inadequately supported, and many families are under severe pressure.

MTUC PRESS STATEMENT - MEDICAL CERTIFICATE


Press Statement
20th May 2014
Medical Certificate
Dear editor,
The recent statement by Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) president Datuk Dr N.K.S Tharmaseelam, undermines the integrity of Malaysian Medical Profession by stating that employers has the right to question and decide the validity of Medical Certificate and  by further asserting that MCs  is a mere recommendation. If a medical practitioner has acted beyond his duty and ethic, than rightly that practitioner should be taken to task and not shift the burden of deciding ones health to the hand and sole discretion of a lay person and in this case, the employers

Forced labour 'making $150bn profit' - ILO report


A young boy carries a sack from a boat to a lorry at the harbour in Makassar, Indonesia - 30 April 2014The ILO says 11.4 million women and girls and 9.5 million men and boys are victims of forced labour

Related Stories

Forced labour generates illegal profits of at least $150bn (£90bn; 110bn euros) a year, a study by the International Labour Organization (ILO) says.
The profits are far higher than previous estimates and the ILO wants governments to tackle the problem.
Some 21 million people worldwide are in forced labour, it says, with migrant workers most vulnerable.

Malaysia Country Report 2014 by MALAYSIAN TRADES UNION CONGRESS(MTUC))

Monday, May 19, 2014

MALAYSIA:::Union slams MAS for abandoning MH370 families / Nufam kecam MAS abaikan kebajikan waris anak kapal MH370

The flight attendants' union says that it is within the families' right to seek legal advice and MAS should not be penalising them.
mh370 familiesPETALING JAYA: National Union of Flight Attendants (Nufam) said it is irresponsible of Malaysia Airlines to abandon the families of MH370 crew members just because they spoke to their lawyers.
Its president, Ismail Nasaruddin, said MAS must safeguard the rights of the family members until there was a closure to the missing MH370 flight.
It was reported today that MAS had severed ties with seven families of the MH370 crew members for seeking legal advice.
Caregivers were also instructed to stop engaging the families and any communication to MAS should be handled by the counsel representing the families.

MALAYSIA:::MTUC urges govt to scrap proposed GST

The Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) wants the government to scrap the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) planned for implementation starting April next year.
MTUC Exco and Council Member, Sivanathan Arumugam, said the organization opposed the introduction of GST as it fears the new tax system would burden the people especially the low and medium income groups, who would have to pay more for the same products and services they are using today.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

MAYDAY FROM KUALA LUMPUR TO JAKARTA (VIDEO)

MALAYSIA:::EPF: 278 Company Directors Prevented From Leaving The Country


KUALA LUMPUR, May 5 (Bernama) -- The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) said on Monday that 278 names of defaulting company directors have been submitted to the Immigration Department in the first quarter of this year to prevent them from leaving the country without first settling their employees' EPF contribution arrears as provided under Section 39 of the EPF Act 1991.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Myanmar vows to root out child labour by 2015

Myanmar will take steps to eliminate the worst forms of child labour by next year, according to the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security. 
The deputy minister, Htin Aung, said the government had signed the International Labour Organisatoin’s Convention No.182 on the worst forms of child labour and that this would put it into practice. 
Myanmar became a signatory to ILO Convention No.182 on December 18, 2013. 

MALAYSIA:::MTUC calls for strict enforcement of new retirement age, minimum wage

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) on Sunday called on the Labour Department to strictly enforce the new retirement age of 60 for private sector employees that came into force on July 1 last year.

MALAYSIA:::MTUC urges Socso to provide 24-hour insurance coverage


The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has urged the Social Security Organisation (Socso) to provide 24-hour insurance coverage to its contributors as a large number of the country’s workforce cannot afford the high premiums.
Penang MTUC chairman S. Ravindran said yesterday many of its members’ families were left in the lurch when their sole breadwinners died without having any insurance coverage.

MALAYSIA:::MTUC Welcomes Selangor’s Decision to Provide Land to Build a Training Centre

SHAH ALAM, 2 May: The Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) welcomes the decision by the Selangor Government to allocate a piece of land in the state for the purpose of establishing a training centre.
Its Deputy President, Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid, said that the State Government’s kindness is very satisfying as MTUC has been waiting for over 30 years.
He said that the training centre has been long awaited by MTUC as they want to train and educate employees in forming employee leadership.
8.1
“It is a very good thing. Previously, the former Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, only gave an educational fund of RM250,000.
“But this time goes down in history because Selangor is giving us three acres of land for the development of a training centre,” he said when contacted by Selangor Kini today.
Abdullah said that they have proposed to the Federal Government to provide land, but it was not agreed upon.

Friday, May 2, 2014

INDONESIA:::MAYDAY JAKARTA 2014 ( VIDEO )




JAKARTA, Indonesia–More than 100,000 union members are expected to fill the streets of Indonesia’s capital today to demand higher wages, better health care and more workplace protections.
“Minimum wages in Indonesia are far behind those in Thailand, the Philippines, and Malaysia…even when living costs in those countries are relatively similar with Indonesia,” said Said Iqbal, president of the Indonesian Trade Union Confederation, or KSPI, one of the country’s largest workers’ groups.


Countries around the region mark Labor Day on the first of May, but this is the first year Indonesia has recognized it as a national holiday. It’s also important this year because it comes just months before voters select a new president, with current President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono having reached his two-term limit.

Popular presidential contender Jakarta Gov. Joko Widodo won points with workers after taking office in 2012 by agreeing to raise the capital’s minimum wage by a hefty 44%. Workers had been rallying for months for a pay increase, at times tying up traffic in the city and forcing factories to close – albeit briefly.
Getting Mr. Widodo to bow to their demands was a sign of how much trade unions had evolved in the relatively short time since former autocrat President Suharto stepped down from power in 1998.
An Indonesian worker gestures while riding a motobike as he takes part in a rally in Jakarta on Oct. 31 during a two-day nationwide strike.
 
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
In the years since, a period of relatively robust economic growth—Indonesia’s economy has expanded by an average 5.8% in the past five years—promptedmany analysts to forecast that the country would become one of the world’s top 10 economies by 2030.
Now, the increasingly confident unions want to get a bigger share of that growth.
This year workers are demanding a 30% increase to next year’s minimum wage, better health care coverage and pensions, and better protection for maids following a series of recent cases of abuse by employers. They also want contract work to be abolished and some are pushing for extra benefits for over a million part-time teachers.

Around 10,000 part-time teachers are expected to participate in the rally, along with several dozen journalists. Up to 400,000 other union members will join rallies across the country. Although the rallies are likely to be smaller than in past years and turnout is usually lower than estimated, Jakarta will deploy up to 20,000 police to ensure security.

After workers’ stepped up their pressure for higher wages in 2012, government officials acknowledged that Indonesia could no longer rely on cheap labor and would need to work harder to train workers to enter higher-value industries.

At the same time, however, they called for sensibility and asked workers’ to moderate their demands.
“Let us not kill the goose that lays the golden eggs,” Vice President Boediono said during a gathering of businesses people and investors back in 2012. He was referring to demands from workers at the time for pay increases of up to 80% — demands that many analysts warned could drive away investors and harm industries like manufacturing, which support millions of the Indonesian workforce.

Critics argue that while the minimum wage has increased in recent years, it hasn’t led to a higher rate of productivity and has put pressure on the revenues of many small and medium-sized businesses.

However, Mr. Iqbal says productivity is similar with other Southeast Asian countries and Indonesian workers are entitled to higher paychecks.
source:::buruh bersatu
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