Number Of Retrenched Workers In Penang May Be Higher
(Bernama) — The number of workers retrenched in Penang may be more than that reported by the Labour Department so far, said the secretary of the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC)'s Penang branch, K. Veeriah.
He said there was a possibility that there were employers who had not reported the actual number of workers losing jobs as they are only required to inform the department of workers laid-off.
"The number may not include workers offered voluntary separation schemes (VSS), contracted workers and workers involved in out-sourcing activities whose contracts had been terminated," he said when contacted by Bernama here.
He said the number of workers offered VSS may be higher than the number laid-off but the Labour Department may not be informed.
Besides that, he said the number of foreign workers sent back also could not be ascertained if it involved illegals.
"There is a big possibility that the number given to Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng, by the department recently is based on the figures received by the department," Veeriah said.
Last week, Lim said 1,313 workers in the state had been retrenched by 31 employers in January and of that number 791 were locals and 522 foreigners.
He said of the 791 locals, 263 had worked in Butterworth and 528 in Georgetown.
He said last year 3,251 local workers and 81 foreighers were laid-off by 129 employers in the state and highest number of them were 1,766 working in Butterworth.
According to Lim although the number retrenched last month was about a third of those retrenched for all of last year the situation was under control.
Veeriah said workers in the small and medium industries (SMIs) were the most affected as several multinational companies reduced staff or shut down operations here but did not report.
He said many SMI factories were vendors or supplied services or components for multinational companies (MNCs) and they were surely affected if the MNCs reduced production or shifted elsewhere.
He said the move to transfer Intel workers in Bayan Lepas to the Kulim High Technology Park on the grounds of company consolidation recently represented a closure of the plant in Penang and till now it was not known how many workers would want to move to Kulim.
"If they do not want to move far from their homes or for other reasons they may have to quit," he said.
In that relation, he said Penang MTUC is compiling daily information to see how far the uncertain world economy would affect workers in the state, adding that an electronic factory in Bayan Lepas wanted to lay off between 400 and 500 workers soon.
Meanwehile, Chief Minister II, P.Ramasamy, admitted there were other factories in the state who wanted reduce foreign workers but the exact figure could not be ascertained.
"The state government is monitoring the exact figure laid-off in the state and is waiting for further reports from the Labour Department. Although the number laid-off last month is not high, still we are prepared to face a worse scenario," he said.
