Minister Slammed Over Delayed Minimum Wage For Cleaners Guards

---

 
Contract cleaners and security guards at government offices are not being paid the minimum wage of RM1,500. (Bernama pic)PETALING JAYA: An opposition MP has hit out at human resources minister M Saravanan over delays in enforcing the RM1,500 minimum wage for cleaners and security guards at government offices.
Klang MP Charles Santiago said Saravanan’s reasoning that the workers were bound by existing contracts and therefore not subject to the RM1,500 wage, was unacceptable.
“These kinds of excuses are not helpful any more,” he told FMT.
Earlier today, Saravanan had sought to explain why cleaners and security guards hired by subcontractors at government facilities were not paid the new minimum wage which came into force on May 1.
-ADVERTISEMENT-Ads by 
He said the government would revise the wages upon the renewal of contracts.
However, Santiago said the government must ensure that subcontractors adhere to the government’s rules and policies including the minimum wage.
“All the government has to say is that subcontractors must follow the minimum standards when hiring staff to work in government facilities,” he said.
Santiago added that many people worked as cleaners or security guards and received very low wages making it hard to put food on the table. “This is why the notion of Keluarga Malaysia has to be realised otherwise it is all just talk,” he said.
The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) had complained that the refusal of contractors to pay the new minimum wage was akin to forced labour.
MTUC secretary-general Kamarul Baharin Mansor said the matter will be raised at an international labour conference organised by the International Labour Organization. - FMT

---