18/08/05 PUTRAJAYA, (Bernama) -- Some 44,000 workers in the oil palmindustry stand to benefit from improvements in a new collective agreement(CA) inked, Thursday with their employers, including a "safety net" in theform of a guaranteed minimum payment of RM350 per month.

The eighth CA signed between the Malayan Agricultural ProducersAssociation (Mapa) and the National Union of Plantation Workers (NUPW)involves 34,502 oil palm harvesters in 390 plantations and 9,557 employeesof 110 palm oil mills.

In disclosing the highlights of the document before witnessing the signinghere, Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr Fong Chan Onn said Mapa memberswould pay 18-month backwages as ex-gratia payment to all the workersconcerned for the period of Jan 1 2004 to June 30 2005.

The three-year CA is effective from July 1 2005 to June 30 2008.

Dr Fong said the workers would benefit from, among others, an upward wagerevision of seven per cent, an increase of productivity incentive fromRM80 to RM85 per month and an attendance incentive ranging from RM40 toRM50 monthly.

"Under normal working conditions, the workers can expect to earn as muchas RM1,500 per month," he told reporters later, expressing satisfactionthat the agreement between Mapa and NUPW was reached before the case wasactually heard by the Industrial Court.

Dr Fong said the CA was basically a productivity-linked wage system thatrewarded workers according to how much they produced.

One of the elements that determines their wages is the price bonus that istied to palm oil prices.

"The system allows for workers in both categories to obtain the maximumwage. The maximum wage will go up if the price bonus increases due to aspike in crude palm oil prices," he added.

The wage revision is expected to cost the employers RM30.3 million peryear over the next three years while the ex-gratia payment is estimated atRM45.5 million.

Meanwhile, NUPW national executive secretary A. Navamukundan said thatabout half of the 44,000 workers were foreigners, who, under the law,enjoyed the same benefits as local workers.

-- BERNAMA