Even since the Covid-19 pandemic, our heroes went from being celebrities to doctors, nurses and others who have been considered frontliners.
But now, one community of people are stepping up to call for the recognition and rights they deserve as frontliners too.
The #CleanerJugaFrontliner is a movement by Kesatuan Pekerja Swasta Hospital Kerajaan (KPSHK), to urge the authorities to enhance and enforce the rights of cleaners and hospital staff, whom they have been fighting for since 2015.
President of KPSHK, Roziah, had previously shared in a press conference that the purpose of their movement is to call for attention to improve the welfare of cleaners.
Among their demands were:
- to eliminate the contract system and reinstate them as civil servants
- to receive Covid-19 allowance
- to end the harassment against their union
“Covid-19 poses a huge risk to workers like us as we are always the very first to immediately arrive at the scene of these cases.”
So, with their spirits held high, they held a 500km motorcycle convoy from Penang to Putrajaya to hand over their memorandum to the Ministry of Health (MOH), where Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin was there to welcome them.
Khairy, during a press conference outside of MOH, shared that the ministry considers cleaners and hospital staff as frontliners and will look into their claims.
“Their welfare is also my responsibility and the responsibility of us at MOH. The claims that they have raised and have been mentioned earlier, we will look into it comprehensively,” he said.
Considering most of these cleaners are those from B40 communities who are willing to do 3D (dirty, dangerous, difficult) jobs and that their health is put at risk as they clean up after Covid-19 cases, they deserve to be championed and celebrated as frontliners and receive all the rights, privileges and benefits that come with that.
We can’t wait to hear good news from the ministry on this matter soon!
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