Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 392, October 2020

Case No 2637 (Malaysia) - Complaint date: 10-APR-08 - Follow-up

Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body

1. 88. The Committee last examined this case, which was submitted in April 2008 and which concerns allegations of the denial of freedom of association rights to migrant workers, including domestic workers, in law and in practice, at its October 2017 meeting [see 383rd Report, paras 57–60]. On that occasion, the Committee reiterated its recommendation that the Government urgently take the necessary measures, including legislative, to ensure in law and in practice that domestic workers, including contract workers, whether foreign or local, may all effectively enjoy the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing. The Committee also once again urged the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure the immediate registration of the association of migrant domestic workers and requested the Government to keep it informed of all steps taken in relation to the rights of migrant domestic workers to form and join organizations for the defence of their occupational interests.
2. 89. The Government provides its observations in a communication dated 10 September 2019. It indicates that section 8 of the Employment Act, 1955 explicitly states that employers shall not restrict the rights of employees to join, participate in or organize trade unions and the Trade Unions Act, 1959 specifies the steps to be taken in order to form and register a trade union. The Government also informs that, taking into consideration the observations made by the Committee and other stakeholders, it is in the process of reviewing and amending the Trade Unions Act, 1959 to ensure adherence to international labour standards.
3. 90. The Committee takes note of the information provided by the Government, in particular that the Trade Unions Act is in the process of being reviewed, taking into consideration the observations of the Committee and other stakeholders. The Committee also observes in this regard the information provided by the Government to the 2018 Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, indicating that the holistic review of the main labour laws, including the Employment Act, 1955, the Trade Unions Act, 1959 and the Industrial Relations Act, 1967, previously announced by the Government, continued with the assistance of the Office, that several tripartite engagement sessions had already been conducted and that the revised Industrial Relations Act was expected to be tabled before Parliament by the second quarter of 2019. While appreciating the ongoing review of national labour legislation to ensure its compliance with international labour standards, as well as the Government’s collaboration with the Office in this regard, the Committee recalls that, in the context of this case, it has been requesting the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that domestic workers, including migrant workers, may effectively enjoy the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing for more than 11 years, without any significant progress. The Committee also recalls that in its previous examination of the case it noted the Government’s indication that domestic workers could join existing unions to defend their interests, but observed that the organizations referred to by the Government in this respect were associations of employment agencies. In these circumstances and recalling that domestic workers, like all other workers, should benefit from the right to freedom of association [see Compilation of decisions of the Committee on Freedom of Association, sixth edition, 2018, para. 407], the Committee firmly expects that this issue will be addressed during the current review of the labour legislation and that, as a result thereof, measures will be taken to ensure that domestic workers, including contract workers, whether foreign or local, will all effectively enjoy the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing, both in law and in practice, so as to be able to defend their occupational interests. The Committee encourages the Government to pursue its cooperation with the Office in this respect.
4. 91. Further noting with regret the absence of any information from the Government on the registration of the association of migrant domestic workers, which was at the origin of the present case, the Committee once again urges the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure the immediate registration of the association so that they may fully exercise their freedom of association rights and to keep it informed of all steps taken in relation to the rights of migrant domestic workers to form and join organizations for the defence of their occupational interests.