Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) is hopeful that the violence of last Saturday’s Bersih rally will not repeat itself during its planned May Day celebrations in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow.
The police should have no problem with a peaceful walk if we abide by the rules, said PSM national treasurer A Sivarajan at a press conference today.
However, they have changed the gathering point of the event from Dataran Merdeka to Central Market, owing to the court order issued last Friday barring any gathering at Dataran Merdeka until May 1.
They will then walk to Maybank Tower, where they will declare their 14 demands pertaining to workers’ rights.
He said it was a pity that even with the Peaceful Assembly Act, the use of public spaces like Dataran Merdeka is not allowed.
He lamented how the first May Day celebrations in 1994 began at Dataran Merdeka, but added that they would respect the court order and gather at Central Market instead.
May Day Committee coordinator J Solomon noted that it was the first time that the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) is participating with a coalition of workers groups in the celebrations.
Solomon, who is also NUBE general-secretary, said that this was in view of the many serious problems faced by workers, including amendments to the labour laws in 2008.
“This participation is in solidarity with Workers’ Day. In view of the many serious things that are happening with the workers... we should join forces to ensure that the workers’ rights would not be eroded.
“NUBE has seen that the human resource minister (Dr S Subramaniam) has conspired with employers in an attempt to destroy NUBE and to weaken the union’s stride,” he said.
2,000 people expected for the event
He hoped that the event, which they expect will attract about 2,000 people, will catch the attention of the prime minister and put a stop to the abuse of workers’ rights.
Sivarajan stressed the importance of their demands with regard to the gathering, specifically citing the minimum wage issue.
“Our demand is a minimum wage or RM1,500, which we feel is practical... So we will wait for the announcement by the prime minister,” he added.
Another key demand of the group relates to ‘union busting’, which he said was something experienced by many unions including NUBE.
“We tried to start a few in-house unions but because of the inefficiency of the law which favours employers, we find that the union leaders are simply terminated, harassed and eventually the unions will die.”
The organising committee consists of representatives of various groups, including NUBE, PSM, All Women’s Action Society Malaysia (Awam) and Malaysian Youth and Students Democratic Movement (Dema).
According to the committee, 58 groups have endorsed their declarations and demands, including Pusat Komunikasi Masyarakat