Kuala Lumpur: The Department of Trade Union Affairs (JHEKS) is targeting an increase of 50,000 new union members annually. Director-general Mohd Asri Abdul Wahab announced that, to date, 1,038,435 workers have registered across 762 trade unions nationwide. However, this figure remains low, representing less than 10 percent of Malaysia's total workforce of approximately 17 million.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Mohd Asri noted that the current membership of 1.038 million indicates a modest increase of only about 25,000 members from the previous year. Despite this, there is optimism that initiatives like the Trade Union Affairs Programme (PHEKS) and the MADANI Workers Card, recently introduced by the Prime Minister, will help attract new members. These initiatives were highlighted during the 2025 East Zone PHEKS assistance presentation ceremony, which was attended by the director of Trade Unions for Terengganu and Kelantan, Rosli Zakaria.

Mohd Asri also mentioned that the government has increased the allocation for PHEKS to RM10 million this year, nearly doubling last year's RM5.8 million budget. Of this total, RM7.15 million has already been distributed to trade unions within approved clusters, with the remaining RM2.85 million earmarked for outreach and community service programs. PHEKS provides one-off financial assistance to trade unions through five designated clusters.

Furthermore, Mohd Asri revealed that JHEKS received 1,049 applications for PHEKS assistance this year. Out of these, 551 applications have been approved, resulting in a total disbursement of RM7.15 million.