Workers still paid peanuts

Private sector salaries are tagged to government-linked companies but they won't see an increase in minimum wages as the GLC workers are also poorly paid.

PETALING JAYA: Government-linked companies make billions of dollars but the workers still get peanuts.
Take the case of Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB). Its chief executive officer (CEO) Che Khalib Mohamad Noh received an annual salary of RM600,000 in 2007, according to the company’s annual report.
But the minimum wage for TNB employees is only RM750.
TNB Junior Officers Union (TNBJOU) president Mohd Roszeli Majid said if the mighty GLCs do not increase their minimum wages, what hope is there for the private sector.
He said that despite seeing billions of ringgit in investments, GLCs were still paying their workers a pittance.
“In Pos Malaysia, the minimum wage is RM635 a month. For TNB, it is RM750. Petronas is RM1,050, and Telekom Malaysia is RM800,” Roszeli told a Pakatan Rakyat-hosted minimum wage roundtable session at the PJ City Council.
“The government keeps on talking about becoming a high-income nation. GLCs are earning billions of ringgit, but what about the workers?” he asked.
Roszeli, who is also a Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) vice-president, said that GLC salaries were lower than government agency wages.
“Compared to the government now, the lowest salary is RM852 a month. But you get housing, allowance, Cola (cost of living allowance) and public service allowance which comes up to (an additional) RM595 a month,” he said.
Slow move
Roszeli added that it was unfair for workers’ wages to remain stagnant when GLCs were out to maximise profits.
“During the privatisation of TNB in 1990, we (the workers) agreed with the government on one condition: staff salaries after privatisation must be 12.5% higher than that of the government sector,” he said.
Workers’ salaries, however, saw little change over the years. He revealed that TNB’s collective agreements in 2004 and 2007 saw a mere salary increase of 3% and 4% respectively.
Roszeli said that TNBJOU was asking for a 25% raise this time around. “We are asking for RM1,000 salary and a Cola of RM300,” he said.
However, he said that TNB heads had yet to agree with its workers over this demand.
Roszeli also argued that GLC workers were not making decent wages, especially with the RM720 government-set poverty line.
Roszeli also expressed disappointment with the government’s slow move to introduce a nationwide minimum wage.
“I don’t know when they can implement one. I guess this is part and parcel of the rhetoric by the politicians,” he said.