More than 100 estate workers held a protest spiced with Tamil songs as they waited under the sweltering sun for nearly two hours to hand over a memorandum to their ex-employer, Guthrie Bhd today.

The workers, who are asking the plantation company to provide them with alternative housing, staged the protest outside Wisma Guthrie in the posh Damansara Heights neighbourhood in Kuala Lumpur.

The workers, most of whom were retrenched two years ago following Guthrie's decision to conduct replanting exercises and initiate development projects on its land, have been slapped with eviction notices.

However, the retrenched workers have refused to budge and want the company to provide them with houses elsewhere.

In the protest, which began at 11am, the workers also carried placards which read: 'Guthrie Profits, Workers Suffers' and 'Don't Oppress the Estate Workers'.

The protest, led by the Estate Workers Support Group, also drew a large crowd of curious onlookers and saw passing motorists honk in support.

"What do we want?" yelled one of the workers, "We want house," chorused the others under the watchful eyes of some 10 uniformed police personnel who were despatched to the scene.

However, the police personnel and onlookers were visibly amused when the protestors mockingly exclaimed, "Pekerja Panas, Guthrie air-cond (Workers are hot, Guthrie air-conditioned).

The workers came from Ladang Kamiri and Ladang Changkat Salak in Perak and Ladang Bukit Tinggi, Klang, Ladang Ampar Tenang, Dengkil and Ladang Midlands in Selangor.

At about 1pm, Guthrie's director for plantations Abu Hanipah Abdul Wahid received the memorandum from S Munusamy, a former union leader from Ladang Kamiri.

Hold dialogue

In the memorandum, the workers demanded that Guthrie be more sensitive to the problems faced by estate workers who were retrenched.

They claimed the minimal RM300 compensation for a year of service stipulated under the Employment Act is not sufficient and instead suggested the company to pay RM1,000 in compensation.

They also demanded that Guthrie allocate alternative housing for its ex-employees with free housing lots or terrace houses with reduced prices for every worker's family who were affected by the retrenchment.

They also urged the plantation company to have a dialogue with its ex-employees to resolve the problems stemming from the company's retrenchment exercise.

EWSG activist Dr D Jeyakumar who was present at the protest, said the workers were forced to take their grouses to the street as Guthrie failed to entertain their letters.

"It is very bad behaviour. This is a company that make RM400 million in profits every year. It owns 250,000 acres (of land) in this country," he said.

"Giving the workers one lot of land will take less than one per cent of their land. But Guthrie is very kedekut (stingy)," he added.

Jayakumar explained that the workers are third-generation estate workers whose grandparents were pioneers in the estates and Guthrie's profit was derived from their labour.

"But they (the workers) are still living in poverty," he said.

Workers criticised

Meanwhile, Guthrie later issued a press release saying the protest was held by some "25 estate workers from Ladang Kamiri and Ladang Changkat Salak in Perak"

When enquired about the discrepancy in the figures, a PR officer from the company said the statement was prepared before the protest took place.

The press release quoted Abu Hanipah as saying, "We found that these 25 ex-workers have received employment elsewhere yet continue to enjoy Guthrie facilities when they could easily opt for better housing at government identified low-cost housing developments."

Guthrie claimed it has acted in the interest of its ex-workers. According to the company, it has offered retrenchment benefits of more than RM1.1 million and re-employment to more than 173 former employees in Ladang Kamiri and Ladang Changkat Salak.

It said Ladang Kamiri ex-employees were offered an average of RM5,570 in retrenchment benefits while those in Ladang Changkat Salak were offered an average of RM7,600 based on 20 days per year of service derived from one year last drawn salary.