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#HartalDoktorKontrak: Malaysia’s junior doctors to proceed with end-July nationwide strike if govt fails to tackle problems with contract-based employment

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KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA — An anonymous movement of junior doctors in Malaysia reiterated its commitment to proceed with a nationwide strike at the end of this month if the government continues to fail to tackle issues concerning the current contract-based employment system.

In a memorandum published on Thursday night (1 July), Hartal Doktor Kontrak said that Health Minister Adham Baba’s response to the issue was “concerning” and “disappointing”, particularly when contract doctors and medical staff have been integral and essential in managing the COVID-19 pandemic situation in the country.

Dr Adham said on 23 June that permanent positions are offered to medical officers who pass the relevant criteria for such roles in line with the stipulated memorandum on the matter.

The appointments, he added, are also made based on job vacancies for such permanent positions from time to time, in tandem with the employment and financial rules that govern such appointments.

“Permanent appointments that exceed the overall available permanent positions are not allowed and may be flagged by auditors,” Dr Adham said.

“Time after time, we are only told that all appointments are contingent upon the discretion of the Public Service Commission. Worse, our own Ministry appears to be handling the matter in a trivial manner, resulting in negative responses from many parties,” said MMA and SCHOMOS.

The current model of contract terms for junior doctors, said Hartal Doktor Kontrak, does not provide a real, clear direction for their career progression.

Contract doctors are also exempted from work benefits offered to public servants in permanent positions such as study leave, the ability to apply for housing loans, and entitlement to time-based promotions.

The absence of rights for study leave often leaves contract doctors in a situation where they have no choice but to resign and fund their own training.

The contract system was only originally put in place as a stop-gap measure in the face of a large number of medical graduates and the government’s lack of capacity to take in the high number of new medical officers, said the movement.

Hartal Doktor Kontrak noted that there have only been 786 medical officers who have been appointed to a permanent role since 2016. The rest remain on a contractual basis after the end of their housemanships.

“According to figures given in the Health Minister’s feedback, only 3.4 per cent (of junior doctors) were hired as permanent staff. The last of such appointments were made in the 2017 appointment cohort,” they said.

Hartal Doktor Kontrak stressed that the issue of the contractual work arrangements junior doctors are subjected to is a crucial one to attend to, as it concerns the future of Malaysia’s healthcare system.

The movement reiterated two of its demands from the government, namely:

  • Offering permanent positions to all medical officers on contract; and
  • Releasing a detailed explanation of the criteria for such permanent appointments.

“If these demands are not met and there is no black-and-white regarding the matter within three weeks, we will have no option but to make the drastic move of going on ‘leave’ until our demands are met, starting 26 July,” said Hartal Doktor Kontrak.

‘Hartal’ is a Gujarati word for ‘mass protest’ or ‘strike’.

The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) and Section Concerning House Officers, Medical Officers, and Specialists (SCHOMOS) last month said that the contract system has “exacerbated” burnout syndrome among healthcare personnel in the country.

“With this Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads, is it any wonder that many of them are growing increasingly disillusioned and thinking of leaving the country for greener pastures?” they said in a statement on 23 June.

MMA and SCHOMOS said that while the Health Ministry had informed them that a proposal of an extended contract was in the works, no decision or outcome has been announced to this date regarding the matter.

“Even while warding off death in the COVID-19 wards, our junior doctors are still waiting for a fair decision and clarity from the government if they are able to continue working when their contract expires and if they are able to undergo training for their specialisation,” they said.

The current contract system, said MMA and SCHOMOS,  is “messy, biased and a failure”, as it feeds into the anxieties of junior doctors by giving them “uncertainty in their employment in the government service and in their future as healthcare professionals”.

In a statement on Monday, the Malaysian Health Coalition (MHC) said that the issue of contract doctors “require joint solutions by the Ministry of Health, Public Service Department (JPA), and potentially the Prime Minister or Cabinet”.

“Five years of the contract system have led to discontentment, departures from the civil service and Malaysia, and an exhausted health workforce,” the coalition said.

The coalition added that if the Health Ministry is the only ministry with contract positions for “professional-grade civil servants”, it would be an “unfair anomaly”.

“The contract system must be drastically improved with durable and fair solutions to recognise all doctors and health professionals for their service,” said MHC.

While MMA and SCHOMOS said that they would not endorse the impending strike in view of the pandemic, they are currently advocating the “Code Black” and “Black Monday” campaigns.

From 1 July to 12 July, social media users are urged to change personal profile photos and even company or institution logos to black or monochrome in solidarity with the Code Black campaign.

On 12 July, members of the public are encouraged to show up to work in black clothing for Black Monday.

MMA also called on individuals to hold a placard stating “We stand with Contract Healthcare Workers” and to post photographs on social media using the #saveMYcontractHCW, #CodeBlackMY, and #BlackMondayMY hashtags.

Should the country-wide strike by contract doctors on 26 July take place, it will become one of such strikes to be organised during the pandemic.

Reuters reported in late August last year that close to 16,000 intern and resident doctors in South Korea went on a three-day strike over the government’s plans to increase the number of medical students over several years.

This is in addition to setting up public medical schools, allowing government insurance to cover more Eastern medicine, and introducing more telemedicine options.

The doctors who protested stressed that the extra funding should be channelled into providing better pay for existing medical trainees, among other possible improvements.

The Korea Medical Association was reported as saying the same month that it would go ahead with a nationwide strike for an indefinite period unless the government drops its reforms.

Most of the intern and resident doctors “form the backbone of healthcare services in emergency rooms and intensive care units, and major hospitals have reported delays and disruptions since the walkout”, Reuters noted.

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Jamus Lim argues why Jobseeker Support Scheme is the PAP’s version of unemployment insurance

In a Facebook post, Workers’ Party MP Jamus Lim rejected PAP’s claim that the JSS isn’t unemployment insurance. He explained WP’s redundancy insurance plan, emphasizing shared responsibility between employers, employees, and the government. While noting concerns about dependency, he argued these fears are exaggerated, stressing a balanced support approach.

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4 days ago

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12 September 2024

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SINGAPORE: Associate Professor Jamus Lim, Workers’ Party Member of Parliament for Sengkang GRC, has offered his take on the SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support Scheme (JSS), which he describes as the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) equivalent of unemployment insurance.

The JSS, unveiled with more details during Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s National Day Rally speech on 18 August, has sparked comparisons with the Workers’ Party’s own long-standing proposal for redundancy insurance (RI), first introduced in its 2006 manifesto.

In a 12 September Facebook post, Assoc Prof Lim emphasised that the WP had been advocating for a redundancy insurance scheme for almost two decades, providing substantial details on it in their 2016 policy paper.

“We’ve been thinking about the issue for a while now,” Lim stated, adding that the WP’s proposal has been part of global best practices for advanced economies for nearly a century.

Assoc Prof Lim dismissed the PAP’s argument that the JSS is not unemployment insurance.

He pointed out that the differences the PAP cites—such as JSS being tied to job-seeking conditions and funded from general revenue rather than payroll taxes—are inconsequential.

“Tax revenue is fungible, so it all comes from the people anyway,” Assoc Prof Lim explained.

He argued that funding the scheme from general revenue might even make it less equitable, as it could potentially shift the burden onto non-workers to subsidise workers.

The Workers’ Party’s version of redundancy insurance, Assoc Prof Lim highlighted, envisioned a shared responsibility between employers, employees, and the government to ensure fairness and sustainability.

“We do believe in tripartism,” he remarked, underscoring that society should bear the responsibility for protecting its workers.

One of the central points in Assoc Prof Lim’s critique was that tying financial support to job-seeking efforts is standard in unemployment schemes globally, including in Singapore.

Assoc Prof Lim Addresses Concerns of Dependency, Calling Them Overblown

He acknowledged concerns that such a scheme might lead to dependency, but deemed these fears exaggerated.

“Most people, even in the West, do find value and meaning in some form of work,” he noted.

In discussing the design of unemployment insurance systems, Assoc Prof Lim pointed to the importance of balancing the duration of support with the amount provided.

While too long a tenure or too large a payout could discourage a return to the workforce and allow skills to erode, too little would leave workers struggling to cover household expenses during critical periods.

The WP’s redundancy insurance proposal included a payout of 40% of the last drawn income for up to six months, which Lim described as a “solid-but-not-excessively-generous” sum.

Although this amount is lower than what is typically found in advanced economies, and the duration is shorter than the OECD average of one year, he highlighted that it reflects Singapore’s shorter unemployment spells of around two months.

Assoc Prof Lim also suggested the introduction of greater flexibility in accessing redundancy insurance funds.

By allowing the unemployed to “front-load” their payouts, households would have more breathing room to adjust their expenses during difficult transitions.

With the JSS set to be debated in Parliament, Assoc Prof Lim reaffirmed the Workers’ Party’s commitment to advocating for expanded safety nets for Singapore’s workers.

“Whether you call it JSS or RI or something else, expanding the safety net for our workers is something that the Workers’ Party will always be fighting for,” he concluded.

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Halimah Yaacob proposes classifying platform workers as employees for enhanced protections

Former Singapore President Halimah Yaacob hailed the Platform Workers Bill as a “good start” for protecting gig workers but suggested a simpler approach: classifying some platform workers as employees for automatic labour law, social security, and union protections. She emphasised that the current system, which leaves workers bearing all risks and costs, is unsustainable and adversely affects their future and families.

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4 days ago

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12 September 2024

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SINGAPORE: Former Singapore President Halimah Yaacob has lauded the recently passed Platform Workers Bill as a “good start ” in protecting gig economy workers.

However, she suggested that a more straightforward approach would have been to classify platform workers who meet certain criteria as employees, thereby granting them automatic coverage under labour laws, social security protections, and union representation—an approach already adopted by some countries.

In her Facebook post, Halimah acknowledged the Bill’s role in addressing the vulnerabilities of platform work.

The legislation, effective from 2025, mandates increased Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions for platform workers and provides enhanced work injury compensation and representation through union-like associations.

 

The parliamentary debate on September 9 and 10 centered on the distribution of costs—whether they will fall on platform workers, companies, or consumers.

Concerns were raised about the potential impact on consumers and the financial burden on platform companies.

Several MPs expressed worries about discrimination against workers who choose higher contributions and advocated for expanding the law to include other platform services such as domestic cleaning and caregiving.

Senior Minister of State for Manpower Koh Poh Koon reiterated that the protections are meant to level the playing field for businesses and ensure fair competition, while also preventing platform operators from passing the costs unfairly onto consumers or workers.

Madam Halimah highlighted how platform work can distort the pricing of goods and services, with consumers expecting low-cost, fast deliveries.

She noted that if platform workers were classified as employees, the costs of their protection—such as for sickness, business downtime, and social security—would be borne by employers and partially passed on to consumers.

She said It’s then up to us to decide whether to make use of such great convenience but at a certain price.

“It’s then up to the companies to properly factor in their costs to remain competitive as all other businesses are doing. It’s all about the business operating model that has fundamentally changed with the availability of platforms.”

Madam Halimah argued that since platform workers are essentially employees subject to company conditions, they should receive the same protections as other employees in terms of health, social security, and business downtime.

She pointed out that platform workers have been shouldering all the risks and costs, which is not sustainable and affects their ability to secure homes and plan for the future, impacting their families and future generations.

She also discussed the negative aspects of information technology and algorithms, referencing a case from a US fast-food chain where algorithms disrupt workers’ rest periods based on fluctuating customer demand.

The Platform Workers Bill defines platform workers as individuals who provide ride-hailing or delivery services for an online platform and are under the platform’s control.

According to data from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), there were approximately 70,500 platform workers in Singapore in 2023, accounting for about 3 percent of the workforce.

This total includes 22,200 taxi drivers, 33,600 private-hire drivers, and 14,700 delivery workers.

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