NUBE lambasted Human Resource Minister for failure in curbing the pandemic at the working places

KUALA LUMPUR 9 May - National Union of the Bank Employees (NUBE) lambasted The Human Resources Ministry and Labour Department in particular, for failure to crack down errant employers flouting SOPs to stem the pandemic within the working places.

NUBE general secretary, J. Solomon said, the Human Resources Minister seems to have thrown in the towel,  merely giving feeble advice to employers to abide with the SOPs, with little or no emphasis at all in ensuring his officers carry out sustained and through checks at work places.

As a result, many errant employers in the plantations, manufacturing, retail and other sectors seem to have a free run in deciding on how or how many of the SOPs need to be enforced, even as more and more work places turn into COVID-19 clusters.

"In addition to this,  a decision last month by the minister to suspend the enforcement of rules governing workers’ housing standards until the end of the year is another setback to contain the pandemic.  

"Needless to say, the minister’s decision to relax the implementation of Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990 (Act 446) was a big win for employers.

"The minister and errant employers chose to ignore, at least until year end,  the need to provide foreign workers with better and cleaner living conditions as a vital strategy to mitigate the pandemic," he said in a statement today.  

According to Solomon, only four days before the minister had announced the decision, his deputy, Awang Hashim had  was quoted as saying   the following : “Many positive Covid-19 cases occur among foreign workers due to, among others, lack of good sanitation facilities and the accommodation not being managed properly.”

"The contradictions and U-turns in MOHR are a comedy of errors and laughable if not for the fact that the actions (and inaction) by the minister had significantly impeded efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 among workers.

"With the number of work places being declared COVID-19 clusters on the rise, clearly, the minister and his top  officials must wake up to the reality and do more, much more, to curtail the spread of Covid-19 in work places," he said.

Solomon lamented that the emergency laws may be needed to impose stiffer punishment but the key is still having an effective system of enforcement on the ground to check on work places. The MOHR must take the lead role in this endeavour.

"No matter how hard the MOHR tries, it can never justify the decision to suspend the enforcement  of Act 446 at a time when all must be done to ensure workers are not exposed to the virus both at work places and in their hostels.

"It is still not too late for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to step in and quash the suspension order given by the minister.  There must be concerted attempts to ensure employers improve  the accommodation given to foreign workers to keep them safe from the pandemic. They have a right to dignified living as much as we do," he said.

Solomon said,  The MCO, CMCO or other lock downs are doomed to fail unless the MOHR displays a stronger resolve with regard to SOPs at work places and workers hostels.

"Unless the MOHR takes the lead to crackdown on errant employers who take the SOPs lightly, this wave will only worsen in the coming weeks," he said.  - DagangNews.com