Sabah University Staff Seek Help After 50% Pay Cut Since Sept 2020
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According to an FMT report, a state-owned institution has reinstated its employees' 50% salary cut. The college staff are now pleading to the Sabah state government to step in and assist.
A spokesperson said the 146 employees who have gotten only half of their wages since September 2020 wants the Sabah government to look into their predicament.
In June 2020, the employees first received an internal memo from the college's vice-chancellor. The notice announced a Temporary Austerity Measure (TAM) due to a decrease in student intake for the April 2020 semester.
The spokesperson also said that the previous state government stopped the pay cut scheme in July 2020. They said that the employees received their full wage from June to August 2020, but they found that the college reinstated the pay cut in September and received half of the salary.
According to the June 2020 memo, the cost-cutting scheme explained that the employees would receive a 50% salary cut with working hours decreased to 20 per week or three days a week.
Second and third memo
The spokesperson said that some employees, particularly those on contracts such as lecturers and non-academic staff, signed the TAM. The deal was that 60% of the staff had to sign the memo so they could receive their wages for that month.
The staff agreed to it because the memo said the pay cut would only last until September 2020. Yet, on September 25, the college released a second memo.
According to the spokesperson, the second memo did not ask for the staff's consent and stated that they must accept the 50% wage cut until January 2021. The staff also received a third memo notifying that the wage cuts would go on until April 2021.
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The staff had their salary cut since September 2020.
The spokesperson said that the management did not create a platform such as town hall meetings for the staff to address and discuss the issue. Some of the employees went to the Labour Department and the Malaysian Trades Union Congress but experienced slow progress.
In June 2020, former chief minister Shafie Apdal ordered a revamp of the college's management after its move to cut employee salaries and decrease working hours. He also ordered the institution to stop pay cuts and said there should be no pay cuts and retrenchments despite the effects of the pandemic.
Lecturers hit hard
The spokesperson stated that the college's lecturers are paid around RM2,000 monthly, but they would receive just slightly above RM900 after the 50% salary cut and other deductions.
They added that the pay is lower than the minimum wage. Despite the salary cut, the lecturers had to carry on with online classes because of the pandemic. The spokesperson said that their efforts are doubled since they need to prepare for online classes and that the total working hours for three days per week do not apply to them.
The spokesperson said lecturers also had to cover the cost of unlimited internet data subscription by themselves to hold online classes. The college staff said that they do not mean to blame any party but only want to find help.
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