Union praises prime minister for halting the move
The National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) in Malaysia lauded Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob for prohibiting further withdrawals from Employees Provident Fund (EPF) so they can be used during disasters.
NUBE General Secretary Sandagran Solomon Joseph Pitchay, better known as J. Solomon, stressed that while they sympathise with flood victims, using workers' retirement funds during each disaster is "not a wise approach."
"But to be obsessed with dipping into the Workers' Retirement Fund during every disaster is a sign of an incompetent government and sadly the said politicians are from the ruling government," said Solomon in a statement.
This comes as several Malaysia states suffered from floods, leading to loss of lives and finance. This prompted several officials to propose the use of the Workers' Retirement Fund as aid for flood victims. This was, however, prohibited by the prime minister, Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz and the EPF.
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"NUBE supports the stand taken by Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri and hopes that he will firmly defend his decision for the well-being of the contributors in the long run," said Solomon.
"NUBE hopes his party will not succumb to short term popular political pressure and leave the workers in the lurch in the long term. Doing so will cause severe social problems, and we are already seeing such indications."
According to Solomon, politicians must be mindful of using workers' retirement funds as they have been "significantly reduced" from the claims made in the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Instead, officials should come up with an action plan to give employees decent living wage so they can have decent savings in cases of emergency, while also getting appropriate retirement savings for social protection.
"To gain credibility, the party should be urging the government to use its resources to give genuine assistance to the flood victims and close the wide gap of inequality created during their 60-year administration," it added.
