In a statement today, he said the wage’s formulation this year did not involve consultation with PSM as had been the case in previous years.

“PSM’s letters to the minister and the National Minimum Wage Consultative Council (NWCC) requesting a meeting were also ignored.

“This is sad because PSM has historically been the strongest component fighting for the minimum wage in this country, until it was made law.”

He was referring specifically to a statement on Friday in which human resources minister Steven Sim said the new rate announced in the 2025 budget was “unanimously agreed upon by representatives of employers, workers and the government in the NWCC”.

On Friday, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is also finance minister, said the government would raise the minimum wage from RM1,500 to RM1,700 starting next February.

Arutchelvan said it was misleading of the ministry to point to the Malaysian Trades Union Congress’s (MTUC) apparent endorsement of the new minimum wage, saying that “in reality, unions only represent less than 6% of our workforce”.

“Besides that, most workers represented by unions earn much higher than the minimum wage and do not have the interest or locus standi to agree to lower wages.”

Arutchelvan criticised the government for ignoring PSM’s request for a minimum wage of RM2,000.

He said the new minimum wage of RM1,700 is far less than the ideal rate of RM2,568 in urban areas and RM1,884 in rural areas.

“Our figure (of RM2,000) is backed by Bank Negara studies, the minimum wage formula and the prime minister’s statement that it is not feasible for workers to earn anything below RM2,000.”