Planters asked to increase Indonesian salaries to address labour shortage

Planters asked to increase Indonesian salaries to address labour shortage
TheStarOnline, Thursday April 15, 2010

KUCHING: Oil palm plantations and timber processing mills in Sarawak have been asked to raise the basic salaries of Indonesian workers by at least 20 percent. Indonesian authorities made the request during a meeting in Bali last week to discuss ways to meet the demand for Indonesian workers by Malaysian companies.

Indonesian Consul in Sarawak Rafail Walangitan said Sarawak plantation companies were asked to increase the daily wages of Indonesian plantation workers to between RM19 and RM22 from RM14 and RM18 presently. “We have also asked timber mills to raise the daily pay of Indonesian workers to RM12 from the present RM10 as the wages have remained unchanged for the past 10 to 20 years,” he told The Star yesterday. Rafail said Indonesian workers were no longer keen to work in Sarawak for low wages due to the rising cost of living.

“Some Indonesians prefer to work in Sabah and peninsular Malaysia as employers there pay more.” Sabah plantation companies are reportedly hiring Indonesian workers for between RM22 and RM25 a day while their peninsula counterparts are employing them for bet­ween RM24 and RM25 a day. Some plantations pay their foreign workers based on productivity. About 30 out of the 75 Malaysian companies attending the three-day meeting in Bali were from Sarawak.

It was organised by the National Board for the Placement and Pro­tection of Indonesian Overseas Workers and Indonesian Consulate General in Kuching. Rafail said most of the Sarawak companies at the meeting responded positively to the request for salary revision although some of them said they needed time to adjust their wages. “While we try to lend a helping hand to resolve the severe labour shortage of Sarawak companies, we need to help Indonesians earn decent salaries for a decent living.”

According to Rafail, about 60% of the more than 200,000 Indonesian workers in Sarawak were employed by oil palm estates, 25% by timber processing mills and 15% by the construction and other sectors. There are some 400,000 and 600,000 Indonesian workers in these sectors in Sabah and the peninsula. Rafail said the Indonesian authorities preferred Sarawak companies to deal directly with Indonesian employment agencies instead of using third parties as it would save them money.