https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.

php/bioethics/article/view/8586

Doctors Strike During COVID-19 Pandemic in Malaysia

An anonymous group planned the current strike in Malaysia. The group used
social media to garner the attention of key stakeholders including doctors, patients,
government, and medical councils. The call to action mainly involved showing support
for the contract doctors with pictures and placards. Doctors also planned the walk-out.

The strike was executed because contract medical doctors who have earlier
employment, face many inequalities as opposed to their permanent colleagues. For
example, differences in basic salary, provisions of leave, and government loans despite
doing the same job.Although doctor strikes do not seem to increase patient mortality,
they can disrupt delivery of healthcare. To illustrate, the strike in April 2021 had caused
disruptions in delivery of emergency and regular service from prolonged strike. Even
though an organized strike remains a legal form of industrial action, strikes by health
care workers in Malaysia pose various unprecedented challenges and ethical dilemmas,
especially during the pandemic in 2021.

Conclusion, As COVID-19 continues to affect thousands of people, a prompt

reassessment is warranted regarding the treatment of HCWs and the value placed on
health care. The anonymous and uncoordinated strike without support from the
appropriate labor unions may only spark futile discussions without affirmative actions.It
should not have taken a pandemic or a strike to force the government to confront the
issues at hand.
Sample 2:

https://www.freedomunited.org/news/migrant-workers-in-malaysia-strike-over-unpaid-
wages/
January 31, 2019: Migrant Workers in Malaysia Strike Over Unpaid Wages

2,000 migrant workers from Bangladesh and Nepal went on strike in protest of
their employer withholding their wages.The Malaysian government has taken legal
action against WRP Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian rubber glove manufacturing
company, after it was discovered that the company had not paid its migrant employees
since November of 2018.

Following an investigation, the business had violated labor laws by failing to pay
employees' wages for a period of three months, failing to pay for overtime, unfairly
reducing their compensation, and scheduling employees to work during breaks and on
public holidays. The company's decision to pay the unpaid salaries brought the three-
day strike to an end on the same day. WRP Asia Pacific will still be taken to court
despite agreeing to pay workers three months' wages owed to them. According to the
Ministry of Human Resources, "this is to ensure that the incident is not repeated and
also to serve as a reminder to other employers".

In conclusion, according to reports in December 2018, terrible working conditions

at two major rubber glove manufacturing companies in Malaysia, including WRP Asia
Pacific, were brought to light. The Ministry of Human Resources stated that it met with
WRP Asia Pacific, as well as the embassies of Bangladesh and Nepal, and that a
payment plan was agreed upon.