Blog your views on minimum wage

KUALA LUMPUR: The government is inviting the public to submit views and suggestions to help in formulating the national minimum wage for private sector workers in line with the New Economic Model.

Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam yesterday launched the blogsite "national minimum wage" to seek opinions on the topic.

Members of the public could submit their views through the blog at blog.mohr.gov.my or email the suggestions to gaji_minimum@mohr.gov.my.

"The Human Resources Ministry welcomes any suggestion, opinion and idea or comments that could be channelled through the blog or via email to assist the government in drawing up the policy and strategy on the minimum wage."

He said there was still a small section of the population who were living below the poverty line.

In fact, Dr Subramaniam revealed that there were workers still earning less than RM750 per month.

He said an analysis by the Industrial Relations Department on 308 samples of collective agreements between employers and workers in 2007 found that the average minimum wage for clerical workers was RM485, technicians (RM690), and general workers (RM477) per month.

He added that a study by the Malaysian Employers Federation found that unskilled workers, general workers and labourers in the electrical and electronic sectors received RM443 per month.

He said the implementation of the minimum wage might also have an impact on the economy and the employment sector.

Source
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/articles/21blog/Article/index_html