MALAYSIA:::Embassy urges employers of Nepalese nationals to pay salaries early to help support families

Malaysian employers have been urged to let Nepalese workers fly home and pay 
salaries early to help them support their families.

A memo from the Embassy of Nepal in Kuala Lumpur states employers of Nepalese nationals should provide at least one month salary in advance to help support their families in Nepal(Twitter)

The Nepalese Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has asked employers of Nepalese nationals in Malaysia to pay them salaries in advance to help staff support their families.

In 2014, there were about 1,876,802 Nepalis living in Malaysia, according to the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"In this panic situation, the Nepalese nationals working in different companies in Malaysia might have lost their loved ones and worried for them. They may want to contact their families and also go back to see them," a memo shared by the embassy read.

In view of this, the embassy has requested all employers in Malaysia
 "help their Nepalese employers to contact
 their families in Nepal, and, if need be send them back to Nepal
 for a few days".

SINGAPORE::: Recognise foreign workers as fellow human beings

RECENTLY, Singaporeans witnessed two remarkable incidents involving migrant workers.

In the first, a teen assaulted migrant workers, apparently to practise his martial arts skills ("Teen who beat foreigners: AGC files notice of appeal"; last Thursday).

It was an attack so shocking that Law and Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam spoke out about it, calling such behaviour "completely unacceptable", adding: "It's sickening conduct, the kind of conduct that you would not approve if somebody did it to animals."

Just a few days later, we saw the dramatic rescue of a toddler from the second-floor parapet of an HDB flat in Jurong East by two Indian migrant workers ("Rescuers' only thought was to save toddler"; l

MALAYSIA:::MTUC wants 24/7 workers’ insurance cover

GEORGE TOWN: The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC), the country’s main worker’s organisation, has called for round-the-clock Socso insurance coverage given the rapidly increasing number of road deaths in the labour force. “Most accidents occur after working hours.”

MTUC Penang branch chairman N. Ravindran, in calling for the present “outdated” insurance scheme to be scrapped, lamented that workers in the country have been calling for this for years but all their pleas so far had fallen on deaf ears.

He was addressing the issue in a “Workers Memorial Day” speech on Tuesday. “We are concerned about the victims’ families.”

MALAYSIA:::Kemalangan di tempat kerja menurun

KUANTAN - Jumlah kemalangan pekerja di tempat kerja menunjukkan penurunan berdasarkan statistik iaitu 43,795 pada tahun 2013 dan 42,148 pada tahun lalu.

Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Sumber Manusia, Kesihatan dan Tugas-tugas khas negeri, Datuk Norol Azali Sulaiman berkata, ia berikutan kadar kemalangan negara pada tahun 2013 adalah sebanyak 3.28 per 1000 pekerja manakala 3.10 per 1000 pekerja pada tahun 2014.

“Ini menunjukkan penurunan sebanyak 5.49 peratus. Kementerian Sumber Manusia melalui Jabatan Keselamatan dan Kesihatan Pekerjaan (JKKP) telah menjalankan 222,612 pemeriksaan ke atas tempat kerja dan jentera.

ILO:::‘6000 die daily in work-related accidents’

Six thousand workers die daily from work-related accidents and diseases, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has said.

Addressing reporters at  the World Health and Safety Day, factional President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero, said statistics from ILO showed that ‘one worker dies every 15 seconds worldwide, 6,000 die daily and more than two million  die annually from work-related accidents and diseases’.

“From the ILO statistics, more people die at work than at wars and even natural disasters.

“Beyond job-related deaths each year, there are some 268 million non-fatal workplace accidents as well as 160 million new cases of work-related illnesses.

MALAYSIA:::MTUC’s May Day wish: RM1,200 minimum wage

KUALA LUMPUR: Talks on a new minimum wage have failed after the National Wages Consultative Council had met for the third time and the unions were now turning to Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) secretary-general N Gopal Krishnam said they want the government to fix the minimum wage at RM1,200 per month and are hoping Prime Minister Najib Razak would announce it on Labour Day this Friday.

The minimum wage for private sector workers was set in January 2013 at RM900 for Peninsular Malaysia and RM800 in Sabah and Sarawak. It must be reviewed every two years under the Minimum Wages Order 2012.

MALAYSIA:::MTUC: Why were our members treated like criminals?

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) may consider filing for a judicial review of the arrest of 11 picketing individuals last Thursday.

The 11 were charged at the Magistrates Court here, under Section 13 of the Minor Offences Act for making ‘excessive’ noise in a public area.

Its president, Khalid Atan, questioned the police’s action on detaining and charging them.

“I do not understand why they were treated as if they are criminals. They were arrested, put into lock-up (sic) overnight and charged in court the next day.