Bersama has urged DAP leaders to end their internal dispute over minimum wages and focus instead on addressing low wages that continue to burden Malaysian workers.
Party leaders Lee Chean Chung and Sum Dek Joe said the disagreement between DAP leaders Lim Guan Eng and Teng Chang Khim over the proposed minimum wage policy showed that party politics was being prioritised over the welfare of local workers.
They criticised Guan Eng’s suggestion to exempt foreign workers from minimum wage increases, arguing that the move would encourage employers to continue relying on cheap labour instead of hiring Malaysians.
“Paying foreign workers lower wages makes them cheaper to employ. This reduces companies’ incentive to invest in automation and improve productivity. As a former Finance Minister, he should understand this basic economic principle,” they said in a statement today.
Lee and Sum also argued that Chang Khim’s reference to International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 100 to challenge Guan Eng’s proposal could mislead the public.
They explained that Convention No. 100 concerns equal remuneration regardless of gender, rather than nationality. Meanwhile, they said Convention No. 97, which concerns discrimination based on nationality, applies only in Sabah and is not in force in Peninsular Malaysia or Sarawak.
The pair also raised concerns over the proposed 2027 Budget plan to increase the minimum wage from RM1,700 to RM2,000 from June 2027, while exempting micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with annual sales below RM50 million.
They warned that the exemption would create unequal wage protection and could be exploited by companies, leaving many low-paid Malaysian workers without the benefits of the proposed increase.
“More concerning is that many local workers earning low wages are employed in the MSME sector, meaning they could be left behind and miss out on the increase,” they said.
As an alternative, Bersama proposed expanding the Progressive Wage Policy (PWP) and introducing a Multi-Tiered Levy Mechanism (MTLM) for foreign workers through its Alternative Budget 2027.
The proposals, they said, would encourage employers to reduce their reliance on cheap foreign labour while improving productivity sustainably.
