LETTER | The Union Network International-Malaysia Labour Centre (UNI-MLC) and the unions in the government-linked companies (GLCs) have submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak urging him to consider standardising the pension rates for ex-civil servants in GLCs.  

Most recently on Nov 26, 2016, UNI-MLC submitted a memorandum on the same issue to the prime minister in the hope that this matter would be addressed in the then-upcoming Budget 2018. Unfortunately, it was not.

UNI-MLC is aware that the prime minister is busy with his duties and there could have been a possibility that this matter has been overlooked.

In light of this, UNI-MLC wrote a letter to the chief secretary of the government, Ali Hamsa on Nov 14, 2017 seeking to pay him a courtesy visit and also to discuss the contents of the memorandum, which includes the following information:

• The pension received by GLC retirees is very low, i.e below the national poverty line.
• Some of the pensioners from GLC companies receive pensions as low as RM 150, RM 180, RM 200 and RM 300 per month. With the present living costs, these amounts are insufficient to cover the expenses for the retirees themselves, let alone support their families, including children who are still in school.

However until now, we have not received any response on this matter.

UNI-MLC hopes that Ali Hamsa as the chief secretary of the government will find some time to meet with GLC union leaders to give them the opportunity to discuss and explain their grievances faced with the extremely low pension rates.

These employees, the former civil servants, made the privatisation program of the government since 1985 a great success.

The unions in the GLCs strongly feel that the government has a duty to the rakyat as a whole to improve the well-being of all and in particular those who live below the poverty line.    

The value of RM150 to RM350 pensions paid in 1985 and the value today in 2018 after 33 years since privatisation is not the same.

The pensioners are morally depressed, facing hardship and the expectations are high among the GLCs pensioners for urgent intervention from the government.  

UNI-MLC hopes that the chief secretary will consider our humble request to meet with the GLC union leaders to discuss this matter. His kind consideration and support in this matter is most highly appreciated.

MOHAMED SHAFIE BP MAMMAL is president of the Union Network International-Malaysia Labour Centre (UNI-MLC).

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.