民不畏死，奈何以死畏之？

十一月末的傍晚，跑去吉隆坡Publika一趟，观赏蔡长璜的“民不畏死，奈何以死畏之？”摄影作品，也顺便看看其它Pemulihan Pembaharuan的艺术作品。

由于Whitebox的柜台人员说，“老板有紧急事情去医院一趟，我们必须提早关门”，所以只能匆匆看了一回，拍下相片回去研究。

Cambodian workers need employment security and freedom from fear

 NG YAP HWA - 12 AUG, 2021

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, the pandemic has had a devastating effect on employment security of Cambodian workers. Garment factories temporarily closed several times due to lack of raw material from China or community transmission.

Many garment workers either lost their jobs or received a small amount of subsidy from the government. But to rub salt into the wound, garment employers regularly used COVID-19 as a pretext to target union members. The pandemic has been weaponised to get rid of trade unions.

The Business and Human Rights Centre conducted nine case studies on union busting in Cambodia, Myanmar, Bangladesh and India in March-July 2020. The result shows that trade unionists were disproportionately targeted by employers for dismissals.

Stopping anti-union discrimination in Thailand

By Ng Yap Hwa

Thailand has one of the lowest unionisation rates in South East Asia. In 2017, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimated that only two per cent of Thai workers were members of trade unions.

There are three key factors contributing to the low unionisation rate in Thailand : Anti-union discrimination supported by the state, fragmentation of Thai enterprises, and a paternalistic regime.

Firstly, Thai workers face strong anti-union discrimination from employers during the organising process and whenever there exist industrial conflicts. The Thai judiciary and the executive facilitates such discrimination in law and practice.

劳工法改革何去何从？

/ 黄业华

马来西亚近期的劳工法改革，其实是我国参与跨太平洋伙伴关系协定（TPP）的结果。2015年，马来西亚政府签订了“马来西亚──美国劳工一致化计划”。政府承诺采取步骤改革劳工法，以符合国际劳工标准。

其后，法律改革没有马上展开，或是因为特朗普上台后，美国单方面退出跨太平洋伙伴关系协定，其后该协定重组为全面与进步跨太平洋伙伴关系协定（CPTPP）的关系。

除了贸易自由化的因素外，第十四届大选之前，希望联盟的竞选宣言承诺根据国际劳工组织的公约标准，保障工人的权利。

政党轮替后，人力资源部公开1959年工会法、1967年工业关系法和1955年雇佣法的修订建议。当时马来西亚职工总会和劳工法改革联盟也提出了各自的改革建议书。

Whither labour law reform in Malaysia?

By Ng Yap Hwa

From the outset, the recent Malaysian labour law reform exercise was a result of Malaysia’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). In 2015, the Malaysian government signed a Malaysia-US Labour Consistency Plan. It promised to take steps to reform labour laws to conform with International Labour Standards.

The reform exercise did not take place quickly. This may have been due to the unilateral withdrawal of United States from the TPP, and the later rebranding of TPP into Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).