Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) president Halim Mansor says the congress backs the Gig Workers Bill 2025 – despite an earlier statement by its secretary-general Kamarul Baharin Mansor that the organisation did not support the proposed law.
Halim said Kamarul did not inform him of MTUC’s objection to the bill or released any statement opposing it before it was tabled in the Dewan Rakyat on Aug 25 and passed three days later.
“As MTUC president, I hereby confirm that MTUC fully supports the Gig Workers Bill 2025, which was passed in the Dewan Rakyat on Aug 28 and is scheduled to be read in the Dewan Negara today,” said Halim.
“My previous press statements on Aug 25 and Aug 28 which supported the tabling of the Gig Workers Bill 2025 represent MTUC’s official stance.”
This morning, Kamarul said claims that MTUC supported the bill were “misleading”.
He said MTUC’s general council unanimously decided on Sept 7 that the bill should be deferred until the human resources ministry holds consultations with it.
MTUC is the umbrella body for trade unions in the country.
Halim was re-elected MTUC president early last month, ending a six-year leadership crisis which led to legal disputes and intervention by the Registrar of Societies.
Halim, who first became president in 2016, narrowly defeated Effendy Abdul Ghani by seven votes at a special delegates conference which was ordered by the Shah Alam High Court.
The Gig Workers Bill 2025 will extend legal protection to more than 1.2 million gig workers in Malaysia and mandates contributions to the Social Security Organisation (Perkeso) to enhance worker welfare.
