PETALING JAYA: While welcoming the government’s move not to allow fast-food outlets from employing foreign workers, the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has suggested that the policy be extended to cover more sectors of the economy.
Its Deputy Secretary-General A Balasubramaniam said this was necessary to ensure that the foreign labour force in the country was reduced to give greater job opportunities for locals.
He was commenting on the decision by the Cabinet Committee on Foreign Workers and Illegal Immigrants on Tuesday to disallow foreigners from working in fast-food establishments.
Balasubramaniam told Bernama that at present there were about 2.8 million registered foreign workers representing 30 per cent of the total workforce in the country.
He pointed out that with such high dependency on guest workers, the Malaysian economy was at risk and it would be difficult for the country to achieve the status of a developed nation.
He noted that such a large foreign workforce was also depressing the overall wage rate in the local industries as the guest workers were willing to work for lesser pay. — Bernama