COVID-19 and the precarity of Indonesian workers in the oil palm production in Sabah, East Malaysia

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only exposed but exacerbated migrant workers’ precariousness. While governmental lockdown measures were meant to curb the pandemic, some small- and medium-sized oil palm employers in Sabah, East Malaysia, took advantage of such measures by normalizing and justifying mobility restrictions and enhanced surveillance, prolonging irregularity and suppressing workers’ voice. As a result, migrant workers were rendered dependent on discretionary actions by employers who were often inclined to moralistic judgment by viewing migrants as less deserving of their rights and welfare. The restrictive labor regime points out that the government is partly responsible for exacerbating workers’ precariousness by using businesses or employers as a mechanism of control and by limiting migrant workers’ rights.

Life experiences and cultural adaptation among migrant workers in Malaysia

“…We begin by reviewing literature which focuses on the employment precariousness of migrant workers. Existing studies such as Kaur (2010), Mei Wei and Yazdanifard (2015), and Wahab (2019Wahab ( , 2023 have documented the range of labour rights exploitations faced by migrant workers in the country. These exploitations are further compounded by the lack of state protection and remedies (Wahab, 2020;Wahab & Hamidi, 2022).…”

“…It is important to highlight that workers in the manufacturing sector tend to work long hours, work overtime during public holidays, and mingle with almost the same groups of workers at workplaces (Wahab, 2020;Wahab & Hamidi, 2022). It is also a common practice where employers to require migrant workers to live in employer-sponsored hostels, where they are separated according to their respective nationalities by design (Wahab, 2023). Existing studies also indicate that most employers impose strict outing procedures, discouraging workers from leaving their hostels even after working hours (Wahab, 2019).…”

“…Regular migrant workers are referred to as workers who possess valid passports and working passes (locally termed as the visitor pass for temporary employment), employed in six economic sectors permissible by the Government of Malaysia (i.e., manufacturing, construction, plantation, agriculture, services and domestic work). Meanwhile, irregular workers refer to those without such valid documents, and they can be found working within the permissible sectors and beyond (Wahab, 2023).…”