Sarawak Bank Employees Union CEO Andrew Lo said workers are upset because the state government had yet to agree to amend the SLO by claiming that it required prior consultation on future changes.

“The fact that the state government had been consulted for the 2005 and 2012 amendments, and again for the latest amendments, is proof that it had always been consulted and its agreement sought,” he said in a statement.

According to Lo, the federal government would have introduced SLO amendments alongside the Employment Act (EA) in 2021, if it had not required the state government’s agreement.

He said previous SLO amendments proposed were also not tabled in 2012 when the EA amendments were made to provide prevention of workplace sexual harassment.

“If the state government is really serious in protecting workers interests, it should push for provisions that are better than those in the EA.

“It seems that Sarawak workers are made to pay in the state’s quest for autonomy, which is supposed to benefit all,” he said.

Lo also said the Sarawak division of the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) had always pushed for urgent SLO amendments in the triennial delegate conferences, the latest of which was in 2022.

He added that workers’ rights should not be obstructed by constitutional issues.

Previously, Sarawak deputy labour, immigration and project monitoring minister Gerawat Gala said the state government had asked the human resources ministry to be consulted before future amendments to the SLO by Putrajaya.

He said the consultation request serves to ensure the protection of workers’ rights and interests within the state.

This was in response to Lo’s statement, in which he said he was disappointed that the SLO remained unchanged despite the EA having been amended twice in 2007 and 2021.

He said that the unnecessary delay was unacceptable, claiming that workers in Sarawak, especially the non-unionised employees, were at a disadvantage compared with their counterparts in Peninsular Malaysia and, soon, Sabah.