KUALA LUMPUR: The Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) has urged the government to review the public sector's remuneration system, which has not seen any change in the past 20 years.
Its president Datuk Adnan Mat said many civil servants had been affected by the increasing cost of living, while their salaries had yet to be reviewed.
"The purchasing power of civil servants is decreasing, and the remuneration system for the public service which had not changed for the past 20 years has become irrelevant.
"Salaries have not increased, and increments are not being discussed. The prices of essentials and the cost of living are rising, and it has affected the civil servants," he said in a press conference today.
Adnan said of the 1.62 million civil servants, more than 800,000 of them were affected by the increasing cost of living, with their pay still below the national poverty line income at RM2,280.
"So we urge the government to conduct a study on the public sector remuneration system and to put the salaries of those in the civil service above the national poverty line and meet the government's goal to make Malaysia a high income nation by 2025."
He said Cuepacs, together with the National Cooperative Movement of Malaysia Bhd (Angkasa) was working together to empower and activate cooperatives nationwide to supply daily necessities at a cheaper price to meet the demands of civil servants.
He said these cooperatives would sell more than 100 essential items at an affordable price.
"What's important is the support from all ministries and public service heads to activate their cooperatives whether online or offline, for us to provide necessities to the civil servants, lower than retail price," said Adnan.
Meanwhile, Angkasa president Datuk Abdul Fattah Abdullah said the initiative, which was launched in 2019, had identified 3,000 cooperatives to participate.
Of the 3,000, 2,000 shops had already registered and 500 were actively selling these necessities.
"We aim to have all 3,000 cooperatives, plus over 25,000 shops owned by coop members, to be fully active by next year," he added.
