Tuesday, February 17, 2015

MALAYSIA:::Media Statement ::: MTUC Wants Migrant Workers To Pay The Same Rate As Local Workers For Public Healthcare.

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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.

MALAYSIA:::MTUC says locals willing to work



KUCHING: The row between oil palm estate owners in Sarawak, workers union and government ministers over plans to employ more foreign workers is showing no sign of abating.
The state branch of the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has fired the latest salvo, telling the private sector to be more transparent on its hiring process for locals.
In a statement yesterday, the umbrella union’s Sarawak secretary, Andrew Lo, alleged members of the powerful Sarawak Oil Palm Plantations Owners Association (SOPPOA) were not doing enough to inform locals of vacancies before recruiting foreigners.

MALAYSIA:::Malaysia’s EPF commits to $390 million logistics JV

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Malaysia’s Employees Provident Fund (EPF), one of the world’s largest managers of retirement savings, will jointly invest 1.4 billion ringgit (US$390 million) in developing domestic logistics assets over the next three years.

The EPF, which manages about 636.53 billion ringgit, said it had entered into a 50:50 joint venture (JV) with Australian firm Goodman Group to tap into demand for modern warehousing facilities among local businesses.

The retirement fund said that the decision to establish the JV was in line with its recent investment diversification strategy, through which it is seeking to strategically allocate a higher proportion of its portfolio to inflation-linked assets. The requirement for the fund to diversify is heightened by pressure to maintain dividends for EPF members, as well as low bond yields and a limited pool of assets to invest in domestically.