In a statement, he said he had merely touched on the role of MTUC in the National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC).
“Although NLAC is a tripartite mechanism for the state, labour and employers, the question is essentially whether labour or its representatives, currently MTUC, are structurally capable of stopping amendments that are not favourable to labour.
“This is the question before me, not the number of meetings, both general and technical, of NLAC, the improvements registered in the amendments or what others say about these.”
On Friday, Ramasamy who is Penang deputy chief minister II said although MTUC wants to engage with stakeholders “in a just and fair manner”, NLAC did not appear to be a suitable platform.
“By limiting the role of MTUC to one of consultation, NLAC has the tendency to push legislations that might not be in the interest of labour.
“MTUC faces difficulty playing a meaningful role in NLAC. There is no honest engagement of labour. Consultation means nothing for the advancement of labour rights,” he said.
The human resources ministry later responded, saying it had never sidelined MTUC in labour matters.
It said 10 NLAC meetings had been convened this year alone to discuss labour and industrial relations issues, with several technical committee meetings held as part of consultations on the amendments to IRA, also known as Act 177.
In his statement today, Ramasamy said he had only argued that the tripartite framework is not conducive for labour or its representatives to have a say on related matters.
“My criticism was not against the ministry or its officials, but rather a reminder to those in the government to take a look at NLAC with the idea to reform it.”
He said the crux of the matter is not the number of meetings held or the relative improvements in the IRA amendments, but rather the extent to which labour is free and unrestrained from legal and political mechanisms in the country.
“Given the support of MTUC to the Pakatan Harapan coalition in the recent general election in 2018, surely it is not asking too much to consider them as friends rather than an adversary,” he added.