RI, Malaysian unions join forces for migrant workers

Jakarta - An Indonesian labor union association has agreed to work with a Malaysian counterpart to offer advocacy for around 2 million Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia, Antara news agency reported Thursday.

The Indonesian Labor Unions Association (Aspek) and Union Network International Malaysian Liaison Council (UNI MLC) launched the Indonesian migrant worker union, dubbed Union Migrant (Unimig), in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.

Aspek president Mohammad Hakim said the association has established an affiliation with the Swiss-based UNI, which has 15 million members in 152 countries.

"We are using the UNI network to help protect Indonesian workers` rights," Mohammad said. According to Aspek records, Indonesia sends around 700,000 migrant workers to Malaysia each year.

Separately, UNI MLC president Mohd Safie Mammal said Unimig would set up help desks at 19 UNI MLC representative offices, as well as one already running at its main office in Malaysia.

"We also plan to expand the help desks` capabilities to enable them to help migrant workers from other countries like Bangladesh and Nepal," Mohd said.

So far, the UNI MLC Indonesian help desk has helped 436 Indonesian workers and collected 840,000 ringgit (around US$240,000 or Rp 26 billion) in compensation money from employers. (dre)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com (december 18, 2008)
Photo Credit: http://budukgile81.multiply.com

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