JHEKS TARGETS 50,000 NEW UNION MEMBERS ANNUALLY

KUALA NERUS, May 10 (Bernama) -- The Department of Trade Union Affairs (JHEKS) is targeting an increase of 50,000 new union members annually.

Director-general, Mohd Asri Abdul Wahab, said that to date, 1,038,435 workers have registered across 762 trade unions nationwide.

He noted, however, that the figure remains relatively low, representing less than 10 percent of the total workforce in Malaysia, which stands at approximately 17 million.

“Currently, we have 1.038 million union members. The increase has not been very significant, only about 25,000 more than last year.

“However, we are hopeful that with various initiatives such as the Trade Union Affairs Programme (PHEKS) and the MADANI Workers Card recently announced by the Prime Minister, unions will be able to attract more new members from now on,” he said at the 2025 East Zone PHEKS assistance presentation ceremony, here today.

Also present was the director of Trade Unions for Terengganu and Kelantan, Rosli Zakaria.

Mohd Asri said the government has allocated RM10 million for the implementation of PHEKS this year, nearly double the RM5.8 million last year

“Of the total, RM7.15 million has been distributed to trade unions under approved clusters, while the remaining RM2.85 million is designated for outreach and community service programmes.

“PHEKS is a form of one-off financial assistance provided to trade unions through five designated clusters,” he explained.

Mohd Asri added that JHEKS received 1,049 applications for PHEKS assistance this year, of which 551 have been approved, with total disbursement amounting to RM7.15 million.

-- BERNAMA