MTUC: Proton wages lowest among GLCs

The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has revealed that assembly-line workers at national car-maker Proton are among the lowest-paid in the country.

"The RM600 minimum salary offered by Proton Malaysia is the lowest among government- linked companies (GLC)," secretary-general G Rajasekaran told a press conference today.

He compared this to the RM800 minimum wage in TM Net and Tenaga Nasional Bhd, and RM1,000 at national carrier Malaysian Airlines.

Proton and its in-house labour union are currently involved in a protracted negotiation over the collective agreement.

One obstacle is Proton's refusal to raise the minimum salary to a reasonable level, said Rajasekaran.

Expressing disappointment, he said that there has been no significant revision of wages since the first collective agreement was inked in 1987.

"In the first collective agreement, Proton established a RM315 monthly salary for more than 3,000 assembly-line workers. Today, 22 years later, the minimum wage is RM600 per month," he said.

Describing it as a "clear case of exploitation", Rajasekaran (left) noted that Proton's turnover rate for workers is very high.

He pointed out that there is no justification for Proton to maintain "poverty-level wages" for a large number of the 4,200 workers.

"Is Proton saying that it has a world-class workforce with third-class wages? If Proton claims that its workers are worth only a meagre RM600 per month, what value can the public place on the products made by them?"

He urged Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to intervene urgently, also saying the premier should take steps to raise the wage rate to a minimum RM1,000.

A memorandum will be submitted to Najib, as well as to Proton adviser Dr Mahathir Mohamad and chairperson Nadzmi Salleh by end of this month, he added.

courtesy of Malaysiakini