STATE Economic Planning, Education, Human Resources and Science, Technology & Innovation Committee chairman Prof Dr P. Ramasamy supports the idea of having more unions to protect the rights of the employees in an organisation.
“Any developed country needs to pay attention to the labour force and we are actually moving towards the status of a developed country.
“We need to pay attention to the welfare of employees and the only organisation that can do that is the trade union.
“If you look at developed countries such as Norway, Sweden and Finland, they have a very high level of unionisation,’’ said Ramasamy during a press conference after attending the ‘Employment Law Forum Penang 2019′ at Evergreen Laurel Hotel today.
Ramasamy stated that increased unionisation goes along with the improvement in the welfare and well-being of the employees.
“We have freedom of associations in this country, so if there is a group of workers who wants to form a union they can do so by getting recognition from their employers. The employers must give recognition as provided in the Industrial Law.
“I am very firm and clear that the unions can safeguard the rights of workers. This is because unions are by workers and for the workers.
“They (unions) are the legitimate organisations who can fight for them (workers).
“We need more unions and are looking forward to the increase of unionisation,’’ he said, adding that there should be a liberal approach towards unionisation.
Ramasamy, who is also the Deputy Chief Minister II, said half of the country’s population, which is about 16 million, are labourers, of whom only 6 to 7% are involved in unions.
“We also have the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC), which can also represent the workers with regards to the industrial disputes,” Ramasamy added.
A total of 200 representatives from 90 organisations of various industries participated in the one-day forum organised by the state government for the eighth time.
State Human Resources Liaison Committee chairman Datuk Ajith Singh Jessy, who is also one of the speakers, said the forum would give an update on the development of the Industrial Laws.
The other speakers were Invest Penang chief executive officer Datuk Loo Lee Lian, Labour Department principal assistant director Suraiya Ching Abdullah, Industrial Relations Department Penang legal director Ahmad Kamal Mohd Noor and MTUC assistant secretary K. Somasundram.
Story by Tanushalini Moroter
Pix by Ahmad Adil Muhamad