6 days Ago By Nor Ain Mohamed Radhi
KUALA LUMPUR: Companies reporting significant profits must ensure their workers receive fair wages, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.This is among the measures taken by the government to address wage disparity and improve the financial well-being of private-sector workers.Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that while the government acknowledged the positive reception to public sector wage increases, challenges remain in the private sector.
"As such, we have been urging companies that report significant profits to pay higher wages. I, along with other ministers, have met with companies, including plantations that record high profits, and we emphasised that wages must be fair."It is not right for companies to make excessively high profits while workers' wages remain inadequate.
"There is a gap where productivity increases are not matched by wage increases," he said in response to an additional question from Datuk Awang Hashim (PN-Pendang) during the Prime Minister's Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today. Awang had inquired about the measures the government is taking to increase private-sector workers' wages. Anwar also mentioned that the government had introduced a mandatory minimum wage of RM1,700, despite some resistance from private-sector stakeholders.
"In addition to the minimum wage, the government has rolled out a progressive wage scheme. We have to admit that high-achieving companies should emulate this practice, which I am firm about this. "However, there is no legislative power to compel private companies—after all, they are private enterprises—to implement the progressive wage scheme.
"But, we have started this moral switch particularly with government-linked investment companies. "GLICs such as Petronas, Tenaga Nasional Bhd and Telekom, these companies, which employ hundreds of thousands of workers, are setting an example by paying above the minimum wage, more than RM2,000."© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd.
