SHAH ALAM, 28 May 2009: The long-standing proposal to set up a union for the electronic sector has been approved by the cabinet yesterday, Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S Subramaniam said today.
The cabinet, however, decided that the union would be established at the regional level, namely for the northern, southern, central and eastern regions and not at the national level as proposed by the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC).
Speaking to reporters at a job placement and meet-the-people programme here today, Subramaniam said with the approval, workers in the electronic sector can now form unions in their respective regions.
On the announcement by the Bank Negara Governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz yesterday that Malaysia’s first quarter gross domestic product this year contracted by 6.2 per cent from a growth of 0.1 per cent in the fourth quarter last year, Subramaniam said the ministry was always prepared for any eventuality due to the economic slowdown.
Based on the 60-day notification sent by employers to the ministry, the minister said 4,000 and 5,000 workers were expected to be retrenched next month.
The ministry had implemented various programmes and trainings to help retrenched workers, besides giving them a monthly allowance between RM500 and RM800 during the training, he said.
Subramaniam said the government had also spent RM25 million to develop the JobsMalaysia portal, a one-stop centre for jobseekers who would be matched to the vacancies based on knowledge and skills.
Right now, he said approximately 30,000 vacancies were being advertised by some 20,000 employers in the portal.
The government would also open 131 JobMalaysia centres nationwide in the next few months to make it easier for jobseekers to apply for jobs.
Of the total, he said 80 centres would be placed at the Manpower Department offices nationwide, and the rest to be located at the Industrial Training Institutes, Social Security Organisation offices and in public places, like in shopping malls and bus stations.
The government was also planning to integrate job vacancies in the police and armed forces via the portal www.jobsmalaysia.gov.my. — Bernama
