Union president Shafie BP Mammal said they welcomed the announcement made by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob yesterday that the government would implement the minimum salary of RM1,500 from May 1.

However, Shafie said the new salary should not be restricted to just private sector companies with five employees and more, as mentioned by Ismail.

He said the prime minister had mentioned that the increase in minimum wage was to lessen the burden of employees in the B40 lower-income group.

“So why are certain employers given an exemption?

“And why does this minimum wage only apply to private sector companies with five employees and above? How will this help the rest of the B40 workers who are struggling?”

Shafie also told FMT that the government should not leave out domestic workers as they are the ones suffering the most.

He said the extra RM300, compared to the previous minimum wage of RM1,200, would give some relief to the poorer employees, even though it is still considerably low, given that the government is targeting to eradicate poverty completely.

“UNI-MLC wants this push to implement the RM1,500 minimum wage from May 1 to be gazetted immediately so that it does not stay only as an announcement.

“We don’t want the government to be subjected to pressure from any party and the implementation date being put off. We don’t want to disappoint employees.”

Shafie also urged all employers to comply with the government’s decision and stick to the May 1 date of implementation.