Malaysian
Trade Union Congress (MTUC) wants migrant workers to pay the same rate as local workers
for public healthcare. Differential treatment of workers impacts on worker
solidarity, and can be perceived as ‘union busting.
It is most disturbing to find out that
migrant workers are also required to pay a deposit of RM600 before they be
warded in a public hospital, and a deposit of RM1,200 if they are being warded
for surgery or for child birth. When the monthly minimum wage in Peninsular
Malaysia is RM900, and RM800 in Sabah and Sarawak, how could anyone reasonably
believe that a migrant workers will be able to afford to pay such outrageous
deposits before they can be hospitalised and receive required healthcare.
Malaysia may want to have a different
rate for foreigners using public healthcare facilities and services but this
should definitely not include migrant workers.
Migrant workers come to work in
Malaysia because employers in Malaysia require workers, and the Malaysian
government wants them to come. Migrant workers, usually coming from poorer
countries, come here to earn monies for themselves and their
families/dependents back home.
Many migrant workers, when they come to
Malaysia to work already incurred debts of RM6,000 – RM15,000. Then here, in
Malaysia, many migrant workers discover that they have been cheated as to
actual salary and benefits of employment that they will receive. Many migrant
workers did not enjoy the right to minimum wages until end of December 2014,
and many also were placed in situation where their fellow local workers were
paid minimum wages whilst they were not. Many also now are being burdened with
levy, insurance and other payments.
Migrant workers are workers in
Malaysia, and like all workers they must be treated equally. MTUC and unions in
Malaysia represents all workers, and we certainly do not agree to discriminatory
treatment against any one class of workers more so when it concerns healthcare.
The right to paid sick leave and
hospitalisation leave is provided for in Malaysian law.
Now, when a migrant worker goes to see
a doctor in a government clinic he/she will have to pay a registration fee of
RM50, whilst a citizen only pays RM1. A worker generally needs to produce a
medical certificate to the employer to be entitled to claim for paid sick
leave. It is a grave injustice when a worker is required to pay so much more
than the daily minimum of about RM34 to be able to even claim this right to
sick leave.
Some employers have private panel
doctors, to which their workers are expected to go but sadly there have been
cases that these panel doctors sometimes do not even give sick leave even when
worker is really too sick for work. This may have something to do with
continuing to be panel doctor of the employer in the future. Hence, the only
option is to go to a government doctor at public hospitals, who have no vested
interest, and will be true in his/her diagnosis and required treatment. No one
in a public hospital will be asked to get themselves warded or undergo surgery
unless it is really required.
We also recall reported cases where
employer’s delay in sending their migrant workers to get necessary healthcare
have resulted in death of the migrant worker. Migrant workers need the ability
and capacity to go themselves to the hospital, see the doctor, get necessary
treatment and even be warded, if needed, and this extremely high registration
fee, deposit and charges imposed on all foreigners is a big problem.
The imposition of different laws and
conditions on different classes of workers also is a great hurdle in the
organizing, forming and strengthening of trade unions in Malaysia. Both local
and migrant workers are members of one and the same union, and as such policies
and laws that creates particular problems to specific classes of workers can
also be perceived as ‘union busting’ with the objective of weakening unions.
Unions cannot justify why fellow union member, has to pay so much more to get
healthcare just because he comes from a different country. For unions, workers
are workers, and they all have to be treated equally irrespective of religion,
ethnicity, gender or nationality.
MTUC urges that the government to
immediately exempt all migrant workers from having to pay foreigner rates for
usage of public facilities and services of healthcare in Malaysia. Migrant workers, just like local workers
should be paying the same rates.
MTUC also urges the Malaysian
government to treat all workers equally, and stop attempts of ‘union busting’
when they create laws or policies that results in one class of workers being
treated differently other workers, or when such laws and policies disrupts or
threatens worker unity and solidarity.
Regards
N.
Gopal Krishnan
Secretary-General
Email:- gopalkishnam@gmail.com
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