PSM vows to champion contract workers if it wins Skudai

JOHOR BAHRU: Parti Sosialis Malaysia will use the Johor state assembly to raise the plight of contract workers if its candidate, Amir Syafiq Ameer Soekre, wins the Skudai seat.

PSM chairman Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj said the party had handled many cases involving contract workers whose basic employment rights were denied.

“We are handling many cases involving contract workers who have not been paid overtime, whose EPF contributions have not been made, and who are not receiving the minimum wage,” he told FMT.

“Our members have taken many of these cases to the Labour Court. If we are in the state assembly, we will raise these issues,” he said at PSM’s operations centre in Skudai.

Amir, PSM’s sole candidate for the Johor polls, has been active in labour rights advocacy within the party for about 10 years, focusing on workers’ issues in the state.

He said workers whose rights were violated would continue to receive help through formal channels, including by lodging complaints with the labour department.

“But, for the future, I have a vision where policies will not only help oppressed workers but also punish errant employers more severely,” he said.

Amir also said housing affordability had become a major concern in Skudai, with rents rising beyond the reach of many ordinary residents.

“Rent is already expensive. Even flats now cost more than RM1,000 in monthly rental,” he said.

“The people can no longer bear all this.”

He said PSM’s manifesto, which would be launched soon, included proposals to expand public housing and urban transit housing to ease the burden on residents.

Skudai was previously held by DAP’s Marina Ibrahim for one term before she announced her retirement from politics.

The seat will see a four-cornered fight involving Amir, Barisan Nasional’s Tan Hiang Kee, Pakatan Harapan’s J Kartiyaini and Bersama’s Eugene Chua.