Fed-up planters in Sabah want to bring in workers from non-traditional sources like China, Burma, Nepal and Sri Lanka to reduce their dependence on "troublesome" labour from the Philippines and Indonesia.

Sabah MTUC (Malaysian Trade Union Congress) however is dead set against any such move.

"This (the planters' proposal) will add to the burden shouldered by the government in matters regarding the influx of foreigners into the state," said Sabah MTUC chair Simon Yayun Lamadas.

foreign workers 201107 "Hiring foreign workers from elsewhere apart from the Philippines and Indonesia is not part of the solution to labour problems in Sabah."

He was commenting on a public statement issued late last week by Empa (East Malaysia Planters Association) president Osman Walat. This follows an association meeting with Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Bernard Dompok.

Lamadas cites costs, language, culture and social problems as among the factors why non-traditional sources of labour should be avoided.

He noted that riots had broken out not so long ago in Peninsular Malaysia between workers from Burma and Indonesia in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan.

"The presence of workers from non-traditional sources would only create new colonies that are aggressive, lack respect for Malaysian laws and sovereignty and challenge the credibility of law enforcement agencies," alleged Lamadas.

Even so, Sabah MTUC does not want local employers to have a carte blanc (blank cheque) on the entry of foreign workers from neighbouring countries.

He laments that the Human Resources Ministry is yet to set firm quotas in Sabah on the entry of foreign workers. Such quotas, he stressed, should only be imposed in critical areas like plantations, agriculture, construction and industry.

"Local workers should be given the first opportunity and not be sidelined in a free for all," said Lamadas. "The state cannot continue to depend on foreign workers forever. We disagree that local workers are unreliable, choosy and lazy."

Extremely low wages

The main concern of local workers is the extremely low wages offered by employers in the state, pointed out Lamadas. He proposed that locals be paid a minimum of RM900 per month, for example, in the plantation sector.

The current wage rate of RM 600 is below the poverty line, he added.

He noted that many employers even resort to hiring illegal immigrants to further cut costs "but this will only affect productivity because of the low competency levels and the lack of incentives in the cheap labour approach".

If workers abscond, as complained by employers, it's only because there is no proper vetting of those hired illegally, added Lamadas.

"The plantation sector, like other sectors, must hire through proper and valid channels for quality workers. The stress must be on background, interest and capability," said Lamadas. "This will minimise the problem of workers absconding."

Other concerns of local workers, gathered in recurrent surveys by Sabah MTUC, include housing, medical and recreational facilities which are not usually provided by employers in the state.

Sabah, claimed Lamadas, is not short of qualified, trained and experienced workers wiling to work in various capacities in the agricultural sector. The number apparently includes young graduates of agricultural and other institutes.

Absconding after levies paid

Empa's main concern appears to be workers from the Philippines absconding after their employers had paid their levies.

The association claims that the east coast and the interior are "infested with foreign workers who have fled from their employers".

The workers were even prepared to leave their passports with their employers and flee to seek self-employment opportunities in the state especially in market gardening, casual labour and as smallholders.

"There are even workers who work illegally for other plantation companies," said Walat who admitted that the association is yet to discourage its members from pinching workers. "Other absconding workers turn to pushing drugs and other criminal activities. When they return home, it has to be via the back door."

When their legal workers leave, plantations are reportedly forced to hire illegal labour to minimise their hefty losses from the lack of manpower and levies paid for absconding workers.

Empa, when contacted, reiterated that there are certain benefits in hiring workers from non-traditional sources since they would not come over with their families unlike those from the Philippines and Indonesia who "easily flout immigration department regulations on this".

It appears that the spouses and children of workers from the Philippines and Indonesia generally enter the country illegally i.e. through the back door to circumvent immigration department regulations.

Also, workers from non-traditional sources cannot easily flee unlike those from the Philippines and Indonesia who can return to their home countries within an hour for less than RM50 and return by the back door. This is particularly a problem with workers who take unauthorised leave.

Too many conditions

Another sore point with Empa is the Indonesian government "which has been imposing too many conditions and demands for workers from that country".

Walat did not specify the demands and conditions.

Employers in Sabah, claims Walat, are wiling to take local workers but they are unwilling to uproot themselves from their traditional kampungs and travel too far to where the plantations are situated in the east coast.

This is said to be particularly true of the people in Pitas, Kota Marudu and Kudat, the most poverty-stricken places in Malaysia, according to statistics.

"It must also be noted that locals usually have their own land and prefer to be smallholders rather than work for the plantations," said Walat in urging that the ban on workers from non-traditional sources of labour be lifted.