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4th in WDC’s 5-Part Series on Forwarding Women’s Rights and Democracy

Over the last 40 years, Malaysian women have seen some improvements in relation to the work they do. However, this has been limited to formal (paid) work as the unpaid work they perform (e.g. housework and child rearing) continues to be unrecognised.

Barriers such as cultural and religious beliefs, lack of political will and opportunities still create differences between men and women in the work arena.

• About 47.7% of women participate in the Malaysian workforce in 2003, (Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development Statistics - MWFCD, 2004)

• However, they are employed mainly in low-skilled, labour intensive manufacturing industries, for instance, as service workers, shop and market sales workers (17.4 per cent), plant and machine operators and assemblers (12.1 per cent) and elementary workers (11.9 per cent), as well as in the informal sector (MWFCD Statistics, 2004)

• Despite more women holding professional and managerial positions, they are still far outnumbered by men. Only 6.4 per cent of women fall into the category of professionals (MWFCD Statistics, 2004).

• The primary responsibility for child rearing and nurturing continues to lie with women.

Key Concerns
1. Discrimination at workplace
• Women are forced to retire earlier than men in some private sectors.
• Women workers still experience sexual harassment due to inadequate legal protection

2. Reproductive Work
• Twice as many women perform housework as compared to men. They are not paid for this work. By age 30, about 16% of women stop work due to marriage and family reasons.
• It is difficult for women to continue working or to re-enter the workforce after childbirth due to lack of quality childcare facilities.

3. Impact of Globalisation: Job insecurity
• Increased outsourcing of work has led to sub-contracted jobs which do not come with the benefits and security of permanent employment.
• More women work on a casual basis and do not qualify for benefits e.g., medical leave, annual leave, etc.
• Daily waged work has resulted in vulnerable groups of workers, e.g. plantation and migrant workers.

4. The Right to Organise
• Many women work in free trade zones, which discourage the formation of unions.
• Very few women are in union leadership positions. As a result, their specific needs are not reflected.
• Despite trade unionists fighting for a minimum wage of RM900, some Collective Agreements still have salaries ranging between RM360 and RM500.
• Labour laws limit the rights of workers to organise and improve their working conditions.

What you can do:
• Meet or write to your local Member of Parliament (MP) and State Assembly Representative about your concerns.
• Write to the Ministries of Women, Family & Community Development and Human Resources to make your views heard.
• Form groups to discuss your concerns or join Non-Governmental Organisations in their campaigns.

Urge them to act on:

Discrimination in the workplace
• Study and publish women’s changing employment patterns, including what is happening at the informal sector.
• Enact a Sexual Harassment Act.
• Women and men should have the option to retire at the same age.
• Review and amend the Employment Act (and extend to Sabah and Sarawak) in relation to the minimum wage, work security, social safety nets, and retrenchment/unemployment insurance.

Reproductive Work
• Provide quality childcare facilities at the workplace and/or community level.
• Encourage men to share housework. Remove gender stereotypes from school curricula. Promote non-sexist portrayal of men’s and women’s roles in the media.
• Ratify the ILO Convention on Home Work.

Impact of Globalisation
• Have a national employment policy which gives women the right to employment, including opportunities for training and skills upgrading.
• Ratify The UN Convention on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.

The Right to Organise
• Review and amend the Trade Unions Act to allow workers the right to organise freely at the national level.
• Ratify the ILO Convention No. 87 on the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Rights to Organise.