KUALA LUMPUR (March 7, 2010): The National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) is planning to get a million signatures to urge an amendment to the Employment Act 1955 to increase maternity leave to 90 days.
The "Our 90 Days for Mums - 1 Million Signature Campaign" was launched at the NUBE headquarters here today to coincide with International Women’s Day today and feature public forums throughout Malaysia in the run up to June 6 deadline.
NUBE aims to gather the signatures in support of a memorandum to increase the 60 days paid maternity leave to 90 days - an act that would bring Malaysia up to par with the International Labour Organisation’s Convention 183 on Maternity Protection.
Other countries in the region - Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia already has 90 days for maternity leave.
Ivy Josiah, executive secretary for Women’s Aid Organisation said the greatest challenge would not be in obtaining the 1 million signatures, but in garnering the political will to make such changes.
"The Selangor government has already done this, it is now up to the federal government to follow suit," said Ivy.
Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud said they had been fighting for the cause for decades.
"The NUBE’s campaign had full support from the MTUC."
Dr Alvince Dev of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department at Lourdes Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur said many view maternity leave as a benefit rather than a right.
"The number of maternity leave days in a country does not correlate to its Gross Domestic Product, but rather to how much the people pushed for it," he said.
Dev said that in his opinion the 42 day ‘post partum period’ doctors often referred to was insufficient for women to recover from the physical, hormonal and psychological changes experienced during and after childbirth.
"Most men underestimate the physical trauma women have to endure," he said, adding that 70%-80% of women undergo depression after delivery in a condition known as post partum blues. intangible benefits such as the social emotional and mental development were difficult for governments to comprehend because it could not be expressed in statistics," Dev said.
Lactation consultant Rita Rahayu Omar of World Alliance for Breastfeeding in Action said reproductive caring should be acknowledged as work.
Rita also advocated the provision of child care centres and private space for mothers to breastfeed on employment premises, pointing out the benefits of a 10% tax exemption.
"Employers have to be convinced that maternity leave will encourage more women to come back to the work force," said Josiah.
"We are sure the Prime Minister will listen," NUBE president Tan Eng Hong said.
Meanwhile, Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr. S. Subramaniam, when asked about NUBE's request, said there would be no changes for now.
He said an in-depth study was needed because in every country, an equal system was needed between the government and private sector.
"Currently, the 60 days maternity leave provided is enough for some and for some who need additional days, their respective employers will assist them," he said. -- theSun