While the Malaysian Agricultural Producers Associations (Mapa) decision to pay rubber tappers monthly wages appears to be good news, a coalition of plantation workers and grassroots organisations remained sceptical of the announcement.

The Estate Workers Support Committee (EWSC) wants the concerned parties to define what is meant by monthly wage first before introducing it to the rubber plantation workers.

It claimed that a previous monthly wage settlement implemented for oil palm workers in February 2001 was a scam.

We are worried a similar scam will be introduced to the rubber tappers. We, therefore, want Mapa, the National Union of Plantation Workers (NUPW) and government to declare and define what they mean by monthly wages, EWSC said in a statement today.

EWSC said the wages received by the workers in the palm oil plantation have been daily rated instead of going by a fixed monthly sum.

According to EWSC, the wages can still be influenced by situations beyond the workers control, such as weather conditions, commodity price in the world market and the condition of the trees.

It is time for the parties concerned to clear the air and declare rightfully that till today there has been no monthly wages introduced, EWSC insisted.

Subject to conditions

It was reported yesterday that Mapa has agreed to a basic monthly wage for rubber tappers and field workers in the plantation sector. The agreement, however, will be subject to some conditions set by Mapa.

As the new collective agreement for rubber plantation workers and monthly wage package have yet to be ironed out, the union and Mapa are scheduled to meet again on April 13.

Human Resource Minister Dr Fong Chan Onn was reported by The Star as saying that the result came about after a very hard negotiation which involved a lot of give-and-takes between the union and the employers association.

The negotiation between Mapa and NUPW was previously in a deadlock as the employers association last month rejected the unions proposal for a fixed monthly wage for rubber tappers, citing high overheads and low rubber price.

Meanwhile, NUPW was reported to be happy with the development as Mapa had previously been adamant in refusing to consider the unions proposal.

Nevertheless, secretary-general G Sankaran told malaysiakini that the union will still press for a higher wage package for rubber tappers.

He said the matter will be discussed at the next meeting with Mapa.

EWSC has always claimed that the RM325 monthly wage offered to oil palm workers last year is not enough to sustain the workers.

This agreement which was lauded as a historical achievement to the plantation sector only brought misery to thousands of plantation workers and their families. So what is so historical about RM325? it said.