What are the specific issues of women workers in Malaysia?
Women’s productive and reproductive issues are so intertwined. These include childcare support, health, sexual harassment, and upward mobility in the workplace. The sad thing here is that these are not considered workers’ issues at all even by the trade unions. But recently, because of so much pressure from women’s groups for the government and civil society to subscribe to the Beijing Platform for Action, the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace is being included in the workers’ agenda. These are not new things, however. Women workers were already demanding an end to sexual harassment even during colonial times. In the 1940s, women plantation workers staged a strike to protest sexual harassment. Q: There is a growing trend towards flexibilisation of labour in Asia…is this also true for Malaysia? And in what ways? A: Yes. Flexibilisation came to Malaysia in many ways. First as privatisation. Then in the form of contractualisation. And in fact there are many areas where women a
