Pressure is mounting on Malaysia's prime minister to introduce a minimum monthly wage.

The country's top union chief has called for the minimum wage to be set at $US379 to help workers cope with soaring food and fuel prices.

The Malaysian Trades Union Congress president, Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud, says unionists will picket outside parliament this Wednesday to pressure the Government to implement the plan.

Premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is resisting the pressure, saying he still has doubts about introducing a minimum wage system in the current climate.

Malaysia is one of Asia's largest importers of cheap foreign labour and has about 2.3 million workers from Indonesia, Bangladesh, India and elsewhere to clean homes, construct buildings and gather crops.

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