Mapa, govt ignored experts advice on monthly wage
The Malaysian Agricultural Producers Association (Mapa) and the government disregarded suggestions from the experts engaged by Mapa itself to study the feasibility of introducing monthly wages for the plantation sector, said the Estate Workers Support Committee today.
Committee member Rani Rasiah said after obtaining a copy of the report, they now understand why the government had refused to publish it.
The government and Mapa have ignored the experts recommendations, she said in a press conference held at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall in Kuala Lumpur this morning.
A team of experts from Universiti Malaya led by Prof Shyamala Nagaraj were commissioned by Mapa to study the remuneration system for the plantation sector two years ago.
The report on the study was submitted to the government in September 2000, but it was never made public despite many requests to do so.
Little resemblance
After studying the report, EWSC discovered that the monthly wage stated in the collective agreement for oil palm estate workers has little resemblance to recommendations made by the UM experts.
The committee claimed that the recommendations were deliberately misinterpreted and twisted to give the impression that the so-called monthly wage implemented in the CA is based on the independent studies conducted by the experts.
The recommendation was that remunerations be based on monthly calculations which factors in a basic monthly wage as well as productivity and progress.
The suggested basic monthly wage was between RM450 and RM625 whereas the CA only guarantees that the monthly wage of a worker will not fall below RM325 if the person worked on all the stipulated days.
The report also said there should be a minimum-wage guarantee during the period of low yield, uncapped incentives and bonuses, high-yield incentives as well as reward for loyalty.
Nevertheless, none of these recommendations were implemented in the CA.
Colonial conditions
EWSC claimed there is not much difference between the new CA with its RM325 monthly wage and the remuneration system practised since the colonial era.
Mapa has no interest to pay monthly wage, Rani said. They do not improve their technology to increase yield but continuously rely on the exploitation of workers.
She also said if the government and the plantation companies have no intention to improve the lives of the estate community, they might as well close down the industry and provide the community with land to build their own houses and cultivate the land.
We cant depend on anyone. One hundred years of suppression is enough, Rani stressed.
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