Unpaid salary among complaints received by Sogwa

Jamal Abdullah @ Tedong Chakaw

MIRI (Nov 27): Unpaid salary is among the top complaints received by Sarawak Oil and Gas Workers Association (Sogwa).

According to association chairman Jamal Abdullah @ Tedong Chakaw, his office receives complaints from its members and also from many people in Miri almost every day.

Those complaining about their employees not paying salaries to them are seeking Sogwa’s help in addressing the problem, he added.

“For public information, the majority of workers in the oil and gas (O&G) industry in Sarawak are temporary staffers. Many of them are under the manpower supply companies for major contractors and are directed to work in projects in Sarawak waters.

“Some of these companies always give excuses that they have not received payment from the contractors, leaving them with insufficient cash flow to pay the workers.

“Such excuses are unacceptable because these companies should have enough capital to operate, and they must not victimise the workers,” said Jamal in a press statement yesterday.

Another issue, he said, was that some O&G companies had also not arranged for the workers’ contributions to Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Social Security Organisation (Socso) due to their ‘temporary staff’ status.

“This is worrying for Sogwa, as the situation could be a problem for the workers in the future.

“These O&G workers have no security upon retiring because they have not contributed to EPF.

“The main contractors are taking advantage by manipulating the workers’ employment contracts – the terms ‘Contract For Service’ and ‘Contract Of Service’ have huge impacts on any signed employment contract,” he pointed out.

According to Jamal, under the term ‘Contract For Service’, a company does not have to provide any worker with schemes such as EPF and Socso, but under the term ‘Contract Of Service’, the company is required to do so.

“We hope that the relevant government agencies could take this matter seriously.

“The companies involved need to have social responsibility by ensuring that their workers have EPF and Socso contributions, even if they are only working temporarily,” he said.

Jamal also advised all Sogwa members and the local community to be extra careful when accepting job offers.

“You must read all the details in your contracts to avoid being cheated or taken advantage of.

“You must find out the backgrounds of your future employers and to not accept any job offer from companies with bad track records.”

Moreover, Jamal also called upon more Sarawakians in the O&G industry to register with Sogwa.

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