INTERNATIONAL WOMENS DAY - 100 YEARS

In recognition of 100 years of International Woman's Day, the National Union of Newspaper Workers calls on the government to legislate the following:

1.  Six months paid maternity leave.
2.  Workplaces with more than 100 employees to have child care / nursery centers.
3.  Sexual Harassment Act

It is time the Government honors Malaysian women and their immense contribution to this beloved nation of ours by mustering the political will to do what is a socially responsible thing to do.

The National Union of Newspaper Workers will continue its struggle for more woman's rights at the workplace. The union has already succeeded in getting 90 days maternity leave in New Straits Times Press and 75 days in Star Publications.Whilst employers are still giving lame excuses when it comes to child care/nursery centers at the workplace.

HOORAY TO ALL THE WOMEN OUT THERE!

45 THOUSAND FOREIGN WORKERS - IS THERE A NEED ?

It is reported that the the Government had approved 45 thousand foreign worker permits supposedly to fill the demand for them from employers. This action may run contrary to the Governments own policy of creating job opportunities for Malaysians !

What has happened to the policy of creating a 'high income'  nation for Malaysians? Is creating a 'high income' nation only for the elite class. The bottom line is that millions of Malaysian workers are living on low incomes because employers are refusing to pay them decent and sustainable wages in order to earn filthy profits on the back of cheap labor. 

The Government must be serious in tackling low wages and take the employers by their 'horn' and tell them that this gross injustice to Malaysian workers must stop. There must be greater social responsibility  from employers to the nation. They must be told that their dependence on foreign workers must be drastically reduced and wages for local workers increased to sustainable levels to attract them to these so called 'unattractive jobs'.

To 'rub salt on an open wound' it has been reported in local newspapers recently that so called 'professionals' are expected to get huge pay increases. Hey! what about the millions of low income workers aren't  they important to the nation? If there is no political will on the the part of the politicians, then, slowly but surely the 'rakyat' one day would rise up against these injustices.

MEF'S ABOUT TURN ON MINIMUM WAGES

It is reported today in The Star that MEF is agreeable to the implementation of a minimum wage! However, they are concerned about how it will affect small businesses. We ask since when does MEF represent the small businesses. From what we know and understand most of MEF's members are medium to large corporations with fat cats from big corporations dominating it.

Maybe, the events in the middle-east where a bottoms - up revolution fueled by low wages and spiralling  food prices led to this sudden change or should we say inspiration in MEF's stand.

KPI - IS IT MERE SLOGANEERING OR FOLLOW THE HERD SYNDROME

Some newspaper managements have lately joined the KPI via performance appraisals bandwagon merely because it is fashionable to do so. Their rush to jump on this bandwagon has resulted in many employees feeling disgruntled and demoralized. This is caused as many of the implementers of performance appraisals do not really understand the science behind key performance indicators and performance appraisals. 

Many an appraisor treats  performance appraisals as a punitive tool to knockdown an employee or deny him certain benefits for various reasons. KPI and performance appraissals are meant to evaluate employees and help them become more valuable to the company. Thus, the appraisor must be well trained, understand the objectives clearly and most importantly be unbiased in assessing employees. The implementers must also establish clear mechanisms to identify appraisals that smell of outright biasness and correct it.

Performance appraissals become important tools for promotion and merit increment assesments. However,  it should not be used to discipline employees or deny them profit sharing e.g.  ex-gratias or bonuses. For disciplinary cases it is essential that normal disciplinary procedures should be used to correct employees.

Newspaper managements must engage in more discussions with their union on this issue to maximise the effectiveness of KPI and performance appraissals for company.       

MINIMUM WAGE - MEF's SCREWED UP VIEW

The Malaysian Employers Federation's views carried in The Star February 16 publication just goes to show how outdated its views on 'minimum wage' are. The MEF is so detached from the realities of what is happening to wages in the country that its only view is to protect the ungodly profits that some of its members make.

Don't they know that inflation over the last five years had eroded the purchasing power of the ordinary man and  that the gap between the rich and poor is widening by the day! The wages of more than fifty percent of the working population is now on or below the poverty line.

The Government's planners and thinkers have already decided that if this country is to soar like an eagle among the nations of the world, it must create a high income economy. So it is dismaying to see organizations like the MEF still behaving like turkeys! MEF please wake up, what is happening in the middle east is due to extreme poverty because of low wages and high inflation. We Malaysians do not want this scenario to visit us.

STAR PUBLICATIONS CHARGED AT MAGISTRATE COURT SHAH ALAM

The Star Publications (M) Berhad was charged on the 22nd February, 2011 at the Shah Alam Magistrate Court in the industrial accident death of its employee, Edward George a/l Edwin George. The late Edward George was crushed to death at the reel stand machine in the company's Media Hub Printing Plant in Bukit Jelutong, Shah Alam on 12th February, 2010. 

The company was charged by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health for failing to carry out risk assessment at the 'reel stand area' thus committing a crime under section 15 of the Akta Keselematan dan Kesihatan Pekerjaan 1994 if found guilty could be punished under section 19 of the same Act.

Section 19 of the said Act provides for a person found guilty under section 15,16,17 or 18 to a fine not exceeding RM50,000.00 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both.

The company had pleaded not guilty and as such the case will now go for full trial. The  magistrate court fixed  re-mention on 5th April, 2011.

Despite being reminded many times by the union at the poor standards of safety at the workplaces, some managements in the newspaper industry are still giving a deaf ear to these reminders. 

The union hopes that companies in the newspaper industry do not take safety issues lightly in the future.