Petaling Jaya (The Star/ANN) - Malaysia will hopefully implement minimum wage policy by the end of this year.
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said the National Minimum Wage Consultative Council Act would be tabled in Parliament this session.
"Once the Act is approved, we will set up the council and then the minimum wage can be implemented, I hope, by end of this year," he said in his speech at the MTUC Workers Day celebration dinner.
Najib also presented tokens of appreciation to former MTUC leaders, including its immediate past president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud and former secretary-general G. Rajasekaran.
The council, Najib said, would tackle issues such as retirement age, cost of living allowance and foreign workers.
"These are issues that need to be looked at in detail to ensure that fair decisions are made for all sides," he said to cheers from the floor.
Najib also expressed his desire to have a good relationship with MTUC and workers.
"The reason I came is to recognise and appreciate MTUC as an umbrella body for workers in the private sector. I believe they can play a positive role in taking care of workers' welfare," he said.
Najib also launched the workers complaints portal.
Several steps, he added, had already been taken to safeguard workers' welfare, including increasing the salary for postmen and security guards.
He also stressed the importance of having a good relationship between workers, employers and the Government.
He added that there was no reason for employers and the Government not to consider workers' requests if they were reasonable.