I refer to the article written by Prof P Ramasamy titled 'Labouring over wage issues' ( The Sun , Jan 5). His analysis on the issue though valid seems to indicate no clear solutions. The argument such as "twilight" industry and domination by foreign labour has been some of the common excuses given by various parties to evade discussing the fundamental issue in relation to the monthly wage issue.

The issue of the plantation workers monthly wage is rather simple and the reason why it is not being resolved is quite obvious. The plantation industry has been very consistent in giving low wages as well as maintaining the status-quo of the wage system. The arguments expressed by the workers and groups' fighting for these causes in the last 80 years seem to be the same. The issues of housing, low wages, low health and education facilities are not something new. Every five-year Malaysia Plan and every National Economic Plan has expressed these shortcomings. But the big question is why didn't the Government resolve these issues.

The three main players in the plantation world are plantation labour, plantation capital and the state. Let us now examine these players more closely.

Labour represented by NUPW

Most of the time the plantation workers are represented by the NUPW (National Union of Plantation Workers). The work force has mostly been of southern Indian origin while non-Indian Malaysian workers at times were as high as 40 percent of the workforce. Currently foreign labour such as Bangladeshi and Indonesian workers have dominated the workforce. The make-up of the workforce itself makes the issue less sensitive to the ruling party dominated by the Malay-based Umno party and Chinese-based MCA. It is because of this, the MIC seems to be highlighting these issues and passing resolution after resolution as if the issue of the plantation workers is the issue of the Indian community rather than the issue of workers. It is also clear indication why the plantation community has not got the same privileges as other rural communities such as paddy farmers, Felda settlers, etc.

The government's poverty eradication programme has also ignored these communities. While almost all plantation schools are still not fully government-aided and health facilities remain an eye-sore. The government for many years has remained uninterested to extend these facilities to the plantation community citing that it is the role of the estate owners. Nevertheless, no serious action has been taken on plantation companies who neglect their responsibility. One wonders why these double standards and why was there no will to improve these communities.

Capital is government controlled

Currently the big plantation companies include Guthrie, Golden Hope Plantations, Highland and Lowlands , KLK and Sime Darby. Who are the major shareholders of these companies or rather who controls these companies. Ironically the major shareholder of these companies is the Government via Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) and Amanah Saham Raya. Therefore the State has a very visible hand in the whole relationship. Samy Vellu was correct when he stated that the Government must give monthly wages because the Government is the actual owner of these companies.

The state has no will

This clearly reflects the State has no political will to implement monthly wages or are they too weak to lobby or persuade the plantation capital to give monthly wage. The issue of monthly wage is not solely just a monetary benefit as stated by Ramasamy. The daily wage system is a system used by almost all agricultural companies in the world. This wage system is feudal in every aspect and is just a few steps ahead of the slave reward system. This colonial wage system practised in Malaysia and other parts of the world is unequal because here the risk is borne by the workers rather the plantation capital. The struggle to replace this unfair system to a fairer wage system has been going on for ages.

The struggle for monthly wage has taken place in other countries in the world as well. Sri Lanka experienced a big strike on the issue of monthly wage a few years ago. Therefore, if the daily wage system collapses in Malaysia, then other parts in the world global system will also have similar pressure. It is therefore an uphill task to bring down this daily wage system and replace it with a more fairer system for the workers. Ramasamy might be correct when he says they have little effect on their overall earnings. But the first hurdle here is that the notion of wages must be linked to productivity. Workers must be paid in accordance with the output they produce. In the plantation sector, their wages are determined by external factors such as weather, world commodity, stimulants etc. which the workers have no control over it. It is therefore totally disgusting that such a wage system is still practised in our country and we had numerous research studies done to determine this.

The plantation capital argument over the years is the same. They talk about losing profit and competitive advantage with other countries. In other words their argument only points to one direction that is cheap labour policy and how to maintain our advantage. In this manner, who pays the cheapest is ultimately the champion and the most successful businessman. The Plantation Workers Support Committee has repeated many times before that if the cost of maintaining this policy is the cheap labour policy, they we don't need these industries in the first place. Labour need to be respected and appreciated. If the Malaysian government concludes that the only way to save the plantation industry is by neglecting its workers, then the industry must be rejected in the first place. Why glorify an industry which lives on people's misery?

The government cannot justify cheap labour policy anymore. It is inhumane and cruel. The recent non-implementation of this monthly scheme only proves that there is no desire by the plantation companies and similarly there is no political will by the government to implement these schemes. Similarly, there is also no political will to make the House Ownership Scheme a law.