Thursday, December 11, 2014

Malaysia’s New Migrants

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Shyam is a skinny 32-year-old who
 looks barely out of his teens, the father of a young boy whom he has
 not seen for nearly two years. I first met him four years ago when he
 was working as a porter for a trekking company in the hills of
 western Nepal, close to where he was born and grew up.

ILO study: 40% of the world’s population without health coverage

The study, “Addressing the Global Health Crisis: Universal Health Protection Policies,” further shows that across 44 countries, 80 percent of the population are without any health protection These countries include Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Guinea and Sierra Leone. 
Similar major gaps also exist in Asia. In India alone, the study noted, more than 80 percent of people lack health protection coverage. Other countries showing substantial coverage gaps include Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Haiti, Honduras, and Nepal. 

MALAYSIA:::Malaysia to tighten laws to stem flow of illegal workers

Malaysia is home to about three million Indonesian workers, with more than half of them undocumented and risking arrests and possible jail terms as authorities promise to enact tougher measures to stem the flow of illegal workers into the country. 

KUALA LUMPUR: Hundreds of thousands of Indonesians working illegally in neighbouring Malaysia are risking arrests to remain in the country. Many of them had sneaked into the country to find employment and better salaries.
Malaysia is home to about three million Indonesian workers and Indonesia's deputy ambassador to Malaysia has said more than half of them are undocumented - they slip in and out of the country through its porous borders despite risking arrests and possible jail terms.

MALAYSIA:::Employee commuting accidents rising since 2011

The number of employees who have been involved in accidents while commuting to work has been on the rise since 2011.
Out of the 63,578 cases reported to Social Security Organisation (Socso) last year, more than 45 % or 27, 671 cases were commuting accidents, said Human Resources Minister, Datuk Seri Richard Riot Anak Jaem in his keynote address at the Commuting Accidents Prevention Seminar 2014, in Monash University today.
He said in 2012, about 42% of the cases reported to Socso were commuting accidents while in 2011, out of 59,897 cases reported, about 41 % were commuting accidents.

MALAYSIA:::70,000 Indonesian workers in Malaysia to be deported

Malaysia has long been grappling with the influx of workers from Indonesia. – Reuters pic, December 10, 2014.
Malaysia has long been grappling with the influx of workers from Indonesia. –
 Reuters pic, December 10, 2014
.Malaysia is set to deport some 70,000 Indonesian illegal workers by year end, the Jakarta Globe reported.
Citing a source from the republic's Manpower and Transmigration ministry, the English daily said the number was more than the 50,000 announced earlier by an Indonesian diplomat.
On Sunday, Indonesia's deputy ambassador to Malaysia, Hermono, had said that 50,000 workers who were currently in Malaysia without valid working permits would be sent back.
The deportation will be carried out in stages and is expected to end by December 31, Hermono had said.

MALAYSIA:::Kilang Perwaja Steel Tutup 1,500 Pekerja Diberhentikan


Hanafiah MatHanafiah MatKUALA TERENGGANU: Kilang Perwaja Steel Sdn Bhd (PSSB) telahpun tutup operasinya pada 19 November lalu dan seramai 1,500 pekerjanya diberhentikan setelah tidak dibayar gaji secara tetap dalam tempoh sekian lama.
"Apabila keadaan ini berlaku, maka terdapat lambakan 1,500 tenaha kerja mahir dalam sektor perkilangan industri berat yang terpaksa bersaing dengan tenaga kerja baru untuk mendapatkan pekerjaan," kata Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (Adun) Chukai, Hanafiah Mat ketika membahaskan Bajet 2015 negeri pada persidangan Dun, petang ini.
Katanya, jumlah mereka yang terjejas sebenarnya adalah 5,000 orang setelah dikira jumlah pekerja, pasangan masing-masing atau tanggungan serta keluarga mereka.
Ini, ujar beliau akan memberi kesan langsung kepada ekonomi setempat serta kesan kepada setiap keluarga yang terlibat.

MALAYSIA:::RM500 partial payment is a clear violation of Employment Act 1955 - MTUC

KUALA LUMPUR: The partial payment of RM500 made to about 100 staff of Bernama TV is seen as a clear violation of the Employment Act 1955, said the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC).

Its secretary-general N. Gopal Kishnam said according to the Employment Act a staff’s salary should be paid by the 7th of the following month.

“The Employment Act is very clear that salaries must be paid by the 7th of the following month. Continued delay in salary is no excuse and it is unfair and unjust towards these workers,” he said in a statement today. 

The union also expressed its concern over the matter stating that the payment made will not meet an individual’s daily expenses.

MALAYSIA:::PUTRAJAYA MUST BE HARD UP! Bernama TV flouting labour laws by not paying staff - MTUC


Bernama TV is flouting labour laws by failing to pay staff their dues since Oct 20, the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) said.
BTV yesterday admitted that it can no longer afford to pay wages and instead, gave its employees only partial back pay of RM500 for the month of November.
MTUC secretary-general N Gopal Kishnam , when contacted, said that the partial back pay is totally against the Employment Act.
"The RM500 paid does not clear BTV because it does not amount to full wages, as required by the law.
"The employees cannot go to the grocery shop and say, ‘My employer only paid me RM500, because of that, can you reduce the price of the goods that I want to buy?’," he said.
He also rubbished Bernama's assertion that it is not responsible for BTV's staff as it is only a minority shareholder of the privately-owned station.

ILO:::Canadian Workers Get Smaller Share Of The Economic Pie Than U.S. Workers: ILO Report

Canadian wage earners take home less of the country’s total income than American wage earners do, according to new data from the International Labour Organization.
Canadian wage earners take home less of the country’s total income than American wage earners do, according to new data from the International Labour Organization.
There are many ways to measure economic inequality, and one of them is “labour’s share of income” — the percentage of a country’s total income taken home by wage earners. The rest goes to “capital” — business owners and shareholders.