Global union calls on Government and employers to do more to “Protect Workers, Stop COVID-19”
Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) is the global union for workers in the construction, wood and forestry, building materials and allied sectors. The BWI-MLC is made up of 9 Malaysian BWI trade union affiliates (listed at the end of this Media Release).
Malaysian trade unions affiliated to the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) have called upon the Government and employers to do more to protect workers as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to put workers’ lives at risk.
“Today is International Workers’ Memorial Day (IWMD), a day which the global labour movement commemorates workers who have died on the job or as a result of occupational diseases”, said Samuel Devadasan, chairperson of the BWI Malaysian Liaison Council (BWI-MLC) and General Secretary of the Malayan Technical Services Union (MTSU).
The theme for this year’s IWMD is Protect Workers, Stop COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic represents the most significant new threat to workers’ health and safety in recent years. The BWI’s primary advice to workers worldwide has been to wash your hands, wear a mask and keep your distance.
“We recognise, however, that for many workers this simple advice is simply not practicable. This is especially the case for migrant workers, whether documented or undocumented, who live in close quarters and can neither afford to access safety materials or hygienic supplies. More must be done to ensure COVID-19 does not spread amongst those communities.”
“We applaud the Government’s decision to implement the Movement Control Order, however we are concerned at the scale of exemptions that have been granted by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry for companies to operate that are not essential services.”
“We are particularly concerned that more than 200 companies in the timber industries in Peninsula Malaysia and Sarawak have been given exemptions, and many appear to be acting in violation of those exemptions. We have previously called for mandatory testing for workers on all exempted sites, but there has been no follow-up by MITI.”
“Many workers at these sites have indicated their concern to us over lax safety practices, however since they cannot survive without income they are compelled to work in spite of the risk. No worker should have to be put in these circumstances; the right to refuse work that workers consider unsafe is a fundamental one.”
BWI-MLC unions have also been amongst those that have called for the Government to recognise COVID-19 as an occupational disease to better protect worker safety.
“Employers have a duty in law to ensure a safe working environment, however explicitly highlighting COVID-19 as an occupational disease will mean that employers would be obligated to ensure that safe practices relevant to such a threat are in place, and they can be punished for failing to do so.”
Highlighting the high rate of accidents in the BWI sectors of construction and wood and forestry in Malaysia, Devadasan said that the post-covid world needs to be one that puts workers’ safety first.
“In construction, for example, Malaysia’s fatality rate is ten times that of the United Kingdom. It is no surprise that this is an industry where unions have next to no penetration and workers have next to no industrial voice.”
“Today our challenge is to Protect workers and Stop COVID-19. We must ensure that when life returns to normal that protection continues to improve so workers can live in dignity and work safely.”
