Migrants rights group Tenaganita has questioned an industry move led by Sime Darby Plantation Bhd to appeal against the proposed minimum wage hike.

Tenaganita executive director Glorene A Das said that in the past, Sime Darby estate managers had claimed that the earnings of most of their plantation workers were already well above the current minimum wage of RM1,000.

These managers, she added, had also pointed out that many workers earned more than RM2,000 per month.

"If this is indeed true, it is difficult to understand Sime Darby Plantation’s cause for concern.

"The rise in statutory minimum wage should have little or no impact on their cost of production," she said in a statement today.

Glorene also quoted figures cited by Sime Darby executive deputy chairperson and managing director Mohd Bakke Salleh that the minimum wage rise would lead to a rise in production costs.

Bakke had reportedly said that with the mooted minimum wage hike to RM1,500, the cost of labour contribution to total production would rise from the current 26 percent to 35 percent, which translated into an additional cost of RM185 per tonne of oil palm.

Calling for more transparency in how the figures were calculated, Glorene said Sime Darby as a socially responsible company – with Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil certification – should not begrudge its workers a pay rise to a level which still falls short of Bank Negara’s estimated living wage of RM2,700.

"It should be noted that Sime Darby Plantation Bhd posted a 93 percent increase in net profit to RM1.69 billion for the nine months ended March 31, 2018.

"With such healthy profits, undoubtedly with generous bonuses for management and staff, it would seem petty and rapacious of Sime Darby Plantations, reputedly the world’s largest oil palm plantation, try to keep down the wages of its workers," she said.

Don’t compromise quality of life

According to Glorene, Sime Darby Plantation’s concern for increasing productivity and profits should not be at the expense of a better quality of life for its workers.

"At least 70 percent of this group of workers are migrant workers who left behind their families and loved ones, and another 30 percent are local workers, predominantly women, who labour in our plantations with work conditions which are harsh and difficult.

"As such Tenaganita proposes that Sime Darby Plantation must take the lead in rallying the other players in the plantation industry to raise the wages of plantation workers to above the minimum level to reflect the demanding and difficult nature of plantation work...," she stressed.

Sime Darby's reported concerns were raised as Pakatan Harapan pledged to increase the minimum wage to RM1,500 in its election manifesto.

Last week, Bakke was reported a saying that Sime Darby Plantation and other industry players will submit an application to the government to address their concerns over minimum wage.

The minimum monthly wage is currently set at RM1,000 for Peninsular Malaysia and RM920 for East Malaysia.