SECTION I: PROFILE OF WOMEN IN THE ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY

Overview of Women Industrial Workers in Malaysia

The following article provides an overview of women industrial workers in Malaysia and is reprinted from the publication Struggling to Survive a compilation of personal testimonies of the "actual struggle stories" of women workers in five Asian  countries: Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, and Sri Lanka. This book is available from CCA-URM Office, 57 Peking Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong US$1.00. 

The publication of this book comes as the result of a series of initiatives made by the Office for Human Development (OHD) of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conference (F ABC), the Asian Women Workers Desk and finally the Committee for Asian Women. Their aim is to facilitate a greater exchange of information regarding labour education methods, experiences and solidarity.

The article gives a general picture of the situation of women working in the microelectronics industry touching upon such aspects as working conditions, job security, wages, incentive schemes and worker control used by management.

 

 

 

 

Background

In 1970, and after the Malaysian government activity encouraged export-oriented industries, there was a burst and output of initiative and incentives to attract foreign investment. Much infrastructure facilities were laid, notably, industrial estates and free trade zones (FTZ). A significant feature of these export-oriented industries, especially electronics, garments, textiles and food processing, is that the majority of workers are women. The proportion of female workers compared to male workers in the manufacturing sector hasbeen increasing over the years from 1957 to 1976. This is an indication of the rapid increase in female labor force participation and the formation of a significant category of workers - i.e. women workers.

Women in Malaysian economy
Women can be said to participate in all sectors of the Malaysian economy. This participation is also increasing, from 24% in 1957 to 31% in 1970. It is significant to note that the trend of female employment has been moving away from the traditional agricultural sector to the secondary and tertiary sectors. This is because since the implementation of the New Economic Policy, the Malaysian economy has undergone rapid change.

The impact of the Green Revolution in padi cultivation; introduction of trawler fishing; replanting of rubber with oil palm in estates; and other such changes have caused labor to leave the agricultural sector. It contributes to rural-urban migration. Meanwhile, industries, services, commerce and construction expand rapidly.

Women in electronics industry

The majority of women workers in the manufacturing sector work in the electronics factories which are owned by foreign transnational companies, located in suitably protected FTZs in the country. That is, 90% of the electronics labor force are women.

Women are the electronics industry's choice as its workers because of their economic weakness and social subordination. These "feminine attributes" allow/justify the TNCs to pay low wages (compared to wage rates in home countries), to lay them off whenever necessary and to control them more easily than men.

Young, inexperienced (i.e. no prior work experience in the modern sector), rural women are the best choice. And of course, women are also naturally the most suitable pick, as they are more patient, diligent, have keener eyesight, more nimble fingers than men, - to work with intricate, tedious and boring electronic gadgets.

Profile of women workers in electronics industry Bayan Lepas free trade zone

Origin: The majority are rural migrants. 10% of workers in Bayan Lepas FTZ are from the Northern states. 25% of the workers in the larger and more important
electronic factories are migrants

Parents'

Occupation: The majority are peasants or junior civil servants, with little or no working experience in the secondary sector or in modern capitalist production.

Average Age: between 16-23 years old.

Education: The majority have at least 9 years of schooling.

Many have sat for their SRP or SPM examinations, i.e. upper secondary levels. A significant proportion are fresh from school, biding their time before making decisions about further education, training for other skills (typing, shorthand, etc.), for opportunities to land office jobs or just help around with the household chores before
parents pk:k a suitable husband for their daught.

Marital Status: single, unmarried

With such a background and such aspirations, it is no wonder that the electronics companies have succeeded in influencing these women workers' perception of themselves and of their fellow workers.

This also accounts for the appeal that propaganda and other techniques used by these electronics companies have on thesetechniques used by these electronics companies have on these women worker.

CONDITIONS OF WORK

Recruitment

It has been claimed that the electronics industry has the most sophisticated and efficient recmitment methods, especially in recruiting female labor force from the rural areas.

The management normally will send specially recruiting the District Officer, Village Security and Development Committee or local political party, to assist in their recruitment.

In these campaigns, the recruiting officers will glorify the good pay and generous pay increase, rapid promotions, pleasant
working environment (complete with piped music, cool airconditioned and dust-free shops).

In addition, associated benefits such as free meals, free work uniforms (which are claimed to be prettier than others), good medical services, comfortable and cheap accomodations, sporting facilities, beauty-grooming classes, annual dinners, talent-time and beauty contests - are always high-lighted.

This is to impress upon the potential women workers from the high-class organizations, unlike the noisy, filthy and low-class
textile or food-processing factories (which had been traditional employers of women labor in Malaysia).

Other attractions

In addition, these young rural women are deliberately led to think that going to work in electronics factories in the city is also a means to gain western culture and modern ideas — which are the acceptable norms in a fast developing economy. In most cases, the companies will even transport (buses or aeroplanes) the new workers from the village all the way to the factories in the city.

Disillusioned

However, once the rural women have worked in the electronic factories, they begin to realize that the actual monetary gains are meagre and that the fabulous offers and benefits so eloquently emphasized in the village, turn out to be empty promises, as one of the workers related

   'They said there would be plenty of sports activities and facilities at the hostel. But now, as you see, we are put into terraced houses with only handkerchief-sized gardens! How can we play any games here?"

Wages

In 1977, the women workers in the Bayan Lepas FTZ received an average of M$3-4 a day. The majority of them earned M$150 a month. There are no significant changes even today. Pay increases are usually along the tune of 20-60 cents every 3 months, after the training period is over. As for promotions, contrary to the promises made earlier, they are few and far between. (M $ 1 = US $.40).

Three types of incentive schemes

Usually, there are 3 types of incentive schemes practiced by electronics firms. They are in the form of production productivity incentives, non-monetary incentives and after-work services and activities.

 

1. The first involves bonuses paid for perfect attendance, punctuality, high prod uction work on scopes and a 13th month bonus at the end of the year ( instead of higher monthly pay for 12 months). A work er hired at mid -year has her bonus prorated wh ile one who leaves du ring the yea r receives none of the bonus. Workers are often en­ couraged to compete among themselves ( ind iv id ual or by operation l ines) to better their targets, thus i  ncreasi ng and setting new production levels and productiv ity rates.

2. Non-moneta ry incentives are clean and cool work ing en­ vironment, free smart-look ing uniforms, subsid ized I free bus transport to and from work, meals I snacks and gifts of souvenirs  for those with more tha n 3 to 5 years service in the f actory.

3. The thi rd form of incentives are also the ma nagement 's subtle ways of exploiting and  reinforcing the passivity and stereo-typed f eminine values of women workers . These are annual  beauty contests, d inners and beauty.groomi ng classes (See Management tech niq ues and Labor Control )

Higher wages in electronics VS cheap labor

Wages in the electronics industry compare very favourably with the average wage for unskilled and semi skilled labor (except those in heavy industry, e.g. steel industry). This is because wage rates in the manufacturing sector for unskilled labor go from US$ 1.25 - 1.50 a day while that for semiskilled labor is between US$ 1.50 - 2.00 per day. In the textile industry, the average daily wage for female labor has been officially given as US$ 1.25.

The fact that the electronics industry pays higher wages may appear contradictory since one of the reasons that TNCs flock to Malaysia is for its cheap labor - the sole reason for employing employing women workers. However, there are several reasons for these relatively higher wages...

As the upper limit of wages is determined by the rate of profit, if the rate of profits (or rate of exploitation) is higher in that particular industry, it is possible for that industry to concede a higher wage to its workers.

The electronics industry is one such industry. For example, one electronics firm in this country started out with a paid-up capital of US$ 10,000 and ended up with US$ 8 million profits after 14 months!

A similar firm in Singapore could, within a short space of time, accumlate sufficient profits to open up a plant in Brazil. An official of a large plant in the Bayan Lepas FTZ has described the profit rate against the workers' wages in the following way:

   "One worker working one hour produces enough to pay wages of ten workers' working one shift plus all the cost of materials and transport".

   Others argue that the electronic industries are paying for having such highly educated labor and hence for their social background as well. In doing so, they have created a particular work force. They have brought into the working class, people who would otherwise either be sitting at home,helping in the fields or working in lower petty bourgeoise occupations. Therefore they have enlarged the working class but not necessarily reduced levels of unemployment in the working class. Instead, electronic industries have contributed to the maintenance of unemployment amongst traditional working class, and maintain those conditions that lead to low average wage
therefore maintaining their own wage rate a cut above the rest.

The quota fever

The production floor is organized into production lines which are organized in hierarchical fashion, each with its supervisor and so on.

Ordinary production operators in each line have quotas to meet and are encouraged to compete with each other to beat their targets. In some cases, each operator has a graph of her daily production tacked on the bench in front of her.

The pressu res to f u lf ill the quota are obviously great for each operator. What is worse, the ta rget not only intimidates and pressu res her but it presents a d
ilemma : if she mai ntai ns a straight l ine, she is considered not improving and will sooner or l ater be remi nded or wa rned by her supervisor.

However, if she surpassess her set target, she will have set a higher ta rget, not only for herself but for the rest as well. An operator who ma inta ins or surpasses her target is billed "Star Performer" and is rewarded with US$10. I n add ition to the competition between individual operators, competition between operation l ines is also encou raged. Each week or month, the l ine totals are added up and a l ine champion is declared.

Rewards and punishments

Many factories award prizes ranging from money, to dinners or lunches, to attractive gifts for the production champions. In some firms, operators vie for the biggest prize o f the year (or her lifetime) — the chance for a free trip to the home base, USA. So much for the rewards. The punishment for failing to reach targets is best summed up by a worker from an American electronic plant in Ampang - Ulu Klang:

   "When we fail to reach the productivity targets set by industrial engineers, our line managers are called up for some chewing out. They in turn put the heat on us through
our line leaders by placing the errants on individual monitoring for a week or two".

Failure — Dismissal

Persistent failure to reach targets usually ends in dismissal. The pressures are greatest during periods of peak demand. At these times, not only are individual targets increased but also the government limit of 32 hours per week.

   "It is difficult for the Labor Office to pin anything on owners because none of their records show any extra legal overtime".

De-skilled processes

High levels of productivity have also been achieved by deskilling processes, i.e. complex operations are broken into simpler ones, there  fore, permitting much more rapid assembly. The pace of work is an important aspect of working conditions on the production line, as it essentially ties workers to the machine.

At the sametime, the process of breaking down complex operations into simple ones is also divided geographically - usually into mutually incomprehensible bits so that none of the operators recognizes her place within the whole factory structure.

   'The amount of net profit gained on one-shift system for 15 years is equal to that gained by working on 3 shifts in 5 years."

Production is further increased by operating a rotating 3 shifts system. It is argued that such a 24 hour operation system is actually calculated to outsmart the 5 year pioneer status constraint. This is because the amount of net profit gained by an electronic plant working on 1 shift system for 15 years is equal to that gained by working on 3 shifts or 24 hour system in 5 years.

Generally, the morning shift begins at 7a.m. and ends at 3 p.m.; the afternoon shift from 3 p.m.- II p.m.; and the night graveyard shift from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. In all the factories, a break of an average of 45 minutes is allowed to operators. Most factories rotate each shift every 2 weeks. The period of rest before a change-over from night shift to the next shift is often about 36 hour.

Job security and occupational mobility

To the 30, 000 odd electronic workers in the Bayan Lepas FTZ, their job security is threatened by three lurking spectres which are capable of striking disaster at anytime .

1.  Mass-retrenchment and re-hiring cycle

Given the vulnerability of the electronics industry to the ups and downs in the world economy and international market, any down wardturn will immediately lead to mass lay off of the operators. This had been bitterly felt in the recession of 1974-75 when as many as 6.303 electronics operators were retrenched, the majority of whom were women.

The extent of the insecurity and uncertainty is revealed in yet another incident. In Penang, in 1977, more than 2 00 electronics operators were dismissed on the pretext that the industry was facing a real low in the market sales but, less than 2 months later, the same companies employed a bigger number of new workers

It definitely costs less to hire a new batch of workers at starting wage rates than to maintain the old batch of workers at their much higher wages.

2. Work in the electronics industry: temporary

The other spectre arises from the very rationale of the electronics industry to employ women workers. That is, since they are unmarried women and are not believed to be supporting families, not only can they be hired at relatively lower wages, they can also be laid off with few repercussions.

In combination with the rationale and ability to lay off workers at will is the built - in mechanism which more or less defines work in the electronics industry as temporary . This is because after 3 or 4 years of peering into the microscope, a worker's vision begins to blur so that she can no longer meet production quotas. The unspoken expectation of the company is that she will marry and " retire " by the time she becomes unfit for work, but she will be laid off in any case

Meanwhile, more automated processes are available, enabling a worker to produce ten times as much as she does now manually — and could be introduced on a wide scale whenever  the company deems it profitable to replace the workers with machines

3. Electronics skills non-transferrable

The other less obvious form of job insecurity is the whole system of deliberate " shutdowns" and lay - offs orchestrated by the management, from time to time . For example in many cases electronics firms in Malaysia deliberately lay off their workers annually so as to avoid their annual bonuses. The other common manipulation is periodic shutdowns when workers work on a 4/5 day week in which case it will mean the workers will have to do without 4 days or 8 days' wages  for that month. This is one of the reasons why workers are often" willing " to do over time when the peak demand period is on, so as to save up for wages that will be lost in periods o f shutdowns.

In some electronics firms, the management resort to "back door " tactics of lay - off . Says factory owner, Theo Serampan {from Kuala Lumpur), the usual strategy Is:

   "Picking off girls one by one by watcfiing for tfie sligtitest infringement of conrpany rules".

This fear and pressure of job security is not reduced by any brighter chances of occupational mobility either. That is, not only that the electronic plants do not provide permanent jobs, they also do not train women workers for other work. As highly compartmentalized segments of multi-national production process, the jobs develop skills with no application in other industries....

In fact it takes about 3-4 months for new workers to learn the skills and to achieve a high marginal productivity. The latter standards are equivalent to or if not higher than the standards of the longer employed workers, whose productivity may even tend to decline due to boredom and failing eyesight

Management techniques and labor control

The supervisor

To attain and maintain high profits, the management must constantly seek for ways of control of workers and thus of production itself. Such methods have already been mentioned like the reward and punishment system to ensure workers do keep up with targets. It is of interest to highlight some other labor control techniques.

One such technique is the role of the supervisor in the electronics firm. The supervisor is the most immediate "boss" with whom workers come into contact. He is the intermediary between workers and management.

Thus, unfortunately, supervisors are seen as individuals carrying out their work with varying degrees of goodwill or malice toward workers. They are not seen as personnel through which the management exercises control over workers. Instead, the management often appears to be the benevolent power showing concern for workers.

Management uses workers to control

Fellow workers

Besides the normal use of supervisors to keep a check on the output and on workers, electronic factories also use subtler methods. That is, management uses workers themselves to control fellow workers. This is constantly found in electronic factories' house magazines. For example, the Motorola Vice President, Earl Gomersall, in the house magazine had advised workers:

   'When you spot people engaged in activities that harm productivity, you can help by personally refusing to go along with their non-productive practices. You may remind
them that they are playing with your future as well as their own when they don't do their fair share to support the team".

In some factories which are known to recruit labor through their current workers (they offer US$2-US$4 as reward for each recmit) such new recruits are often pressured by recruiters to put up with the job. This kind of pressure works, to some degree, because of factors like loyalty and gratitude.

Propaganda and slogans

Propaganda and slogans which are constantly printed in local house magazines or displayed about the factory premises, are another form of subtle labor control technique. Such propaganda and slogans usually chide or coercively persuade workers to keep to targets or to outbeat targets and to influence other fellow workers to do the same, those also inculcate a sense of identification and pride with the big happy Motorolan/tnteliers' family.

The latter is especially emphasized to portray the factory as a family incorporating many of the patriarchal features characteristic of real families in the country. "Big Brother" male supervisors lord it over female operators. The plant manager, usually a foreigner, presents himself as the kindly but nevertheless demanding father figure, playing basketball with the team, kissing the beauty queen winner, eating in the factory canteen.

All these go a long way to create a whole ideology and consciousness favourable to the interests of management and capital.

Social and cultural activities

Social and cultural activities organized and planned by the management is yet another labor control mechanism. This includes all the recreation and games activities, picnics, outings, annual dinner arxJ dance, smaller parties, beauty contest of the year and skill-training classes.

The annual dinner and dance is certainly the premier social event of the year. It is often held on a scale and grandeur that far surpasses annual dinners put up by other industries. These are often held in one of the most expensive, first class, luxurious hotels, e.g. the Hotel Rasa Sayang at Batu Ferringhi (beach hotel), which is easily the richest hotel in Penang, where only the upper middle class people can afford to frequent.

Yet, beauty contests are the most dramatic example of the way electronics factories manipulate the traditional concepts of femininity and gender roles. The prize offered smells of the conventional glamour that makes beauty contests, on whatever levels, ever so tantalizing.

First prize, a cassette player and third, a night for two at Hotel Rasa Sayang! The more serious activities are the classes organized for workers to learn flower arrangements, cookery, handicraft, make-up and beauty culture/ grooming; and typing and shorthand.

Workers'lifestyles / values affected

All the above labor control techniques consciously designed and tailored by electronics management not only serve to control workers in their work place and production and profits. They also have tremendous impact upon the consciousness and perceptions, kleology and values of the workers, i.e. workers' lifestyles beyond the factory gates.

The propaganda, slogans and social-cultural activities above prove especially detrimental to the possibility of development of worker and feminist consciousness among tiiis group of sudden concentration of young rural women .

The stress on family ideology and identification of the electronics plant immediately ties workers into the entire corporation and at the same time, prevents workers from organizing themselves to challenge management-imposed factory consensus. This is because the family analogy cunningly legitimizes the combination of authoritarian discipline and indulgence (social activities) by management to effectively keep workers in line and undercontrol.

Multinational banks and companies are able to use a panoply of techniques: publicity, mass media, development planning,expertise in science and technology, to extend and reinforce all over the world western values, needs and models of developmentwhich are indispensable to their continuing
economic domination.

Andree Michel in Femmes et Multinationales
                                      (see resources)

The dances, beauty contests, monthly contests, monthly publications in local house magazines featuring an endless stream of images of women as sex objects and passive providers, romantic poetry arxl sexist humor are all techniques specifically used to exploit tradition a passivity, submissiveness, sentimentality and sexual desirability of the young, rural women operators in the electronics industry

PROBLEMS

Occupational hazards

Shiftwork

The 3 shift system disrupts workers' biological cycle - sleep and activity cycles and general family life

The rest period for change-over from the night to the next shift is insufficient, for example: hospital staff get 96 hours of rest, electronics workers get 36-48 hours of rest.

Swing and night shifts especially pose dangers for women workers who are subject to assault and rape on their way to work on night shift or on the way home from swing shift.

Industrial accidents are most common during night shift as operators are sleepy, forcing the latter to take emphetamines readily available from any local sundry shop.

Scope work

In 1975 (just 3 years after the first electronic plant was opened in Penang), nearly half of the workers complained of deteriorating eyesight and frequent headaches. Virtually, anyone who stays on the job for more than three years must eventually wear glasses. Companies usually refuse to pay for glasses although they require 20-20 vision when they hire workers.

Most of the workers also suffer at one time or another from conjunctivitis .

Chemicals and radioactive materials

Many of the operations are openly dangerous, involving bubbling cauldrons of molten solder, smoking vats of concentrated acids and constantly fuming lethal solvents. Caustic chemicals, all toxic and many suspected of being cancer-causing, sit in open containers beskie workers.

Workers who must dip components in acids and rub them with solvents frequently experience serious burns, dizziness, nausea, sometimes even losing their fingers in accidents.

A major cause of accidents is the high speed at which workers are required to carry out their work. What is worse, it will be 10-15 years before possible carcinogen effects of these chemicals begin to show up in workers who are now in contact with them.

Personnel departments set u p management-worker health and safety committees, but these seldom address real hazards or consider ways t o correct them. Instead they generally focus on health and safety poster or essay contests, fire drills or annual health and safety weeks.

Hysteria/spirit possession

This is one out letf or protest, traditionally available to women (hysterical outbursts attributed to possession by spirits). They are very much like" wild cat strikes" , because they are usually allowed the day off , except that in this case, there is no violation of factory rules since it falls with in the parameters of acceptable behaviour.

In 1976, there was a whole spate of such incidents. One large American firm was so badly hit that they were forced to hire the local bomoh or the traditional medicine man on a monthly basis to be on hand to exorcise spirits. These often occur when production pressure is high and workers are suffering from strains and tension from their working as well as living conditions. They also occur when there are sudden changes in work relationships and work
conditions .

Common problems are overcrowding, lack of privacy, petty quarrels, difficulty in developing lasting friendships.

Other residents (non-factory workers) in the community look down  on factory workers from the villages, accuse them of too free mixi n g and loose morals.

LABOR LEGISLATION: EFFECTS ON WOMEN WORKERS

Some known direct effects

Several legislative measures which protect the interests offoreign investors have either been relaxed or conversely enforced depending on the situation:

 a. legislative regulation regarding night-shift work for women workers has been relaxed,

b. investors' explicit wish and concerted action to block the formation of workers' trade unions have not met active opposition from the government,

c. manufacturing firms are allowed to send recruiting officers to the rural areas to encourage village women to migrate to work in their urban-based factories.

Wages of women only 2/3 of men's

Today, the wages of women workers in the country only average two thirds of the earnings of men. The equal pay issue had been the concern of a number of unions from 1947. In 1964, following concerted industrial action, particularly from the teachers' unions, the government conceded in principle to equal pay for women workers. The decision was not implemented until after the 1969 elections and affected only women in the government service. During the interim period government leaders often appealed to women's national loyalty as the 1964 decision was continually deferred.

   "If our country is in financial difficulties, we expect everyone including women, to sacrifice a little bit". (Khir Johari, Straits Times, 5 July 1968)

MALAYSIAN WOMEN WORKERS: SOME REFLECTIONS

From Patriarchal system to capitalism

The evolution of the patriarchal system, a social structure linked to property and the possession of women, has made women inferior beings with well-defined duties arxJ functions that are more limited than men - a status of chattel and homemaker. Given this concept of women, women become easy victims with the advent of capitalism. Because capitalism is not based on the organization of production for people, but simply on the need to secure maximum profits, it would be naive to expect that capitalism would make exceptions for women. The pro-letarianisation (wage earners) of reserve female labor power is therefore an inevitable trend.

Root causes of women's oppression

The working class is still deeply marked by traditional division of labor between the sexes. Labor generally constitutes a specially oppressed sector of the working class. The predicament of being born a woman in capitalism is indeed over-whelming. Women are not the same as other oppressed groups. In the present social-economic context women have to struggle not only against modern capitalistic exploitation but they also have to struggle against the more subtle, deeply ingrained patriarchal-cultural dominance of men, an inheritance from pre-capitalistic social-economic formations.

Class equality, sexual equality

The trend of equal-rights feminism struggling for changes in women's position within capitalism without either transforming the structure of capitalism or the super-structure of cultural prepositions can be imagined as nothing more than a bourgeois deviation from the real issues. It is certainly not a matter of man against woman; it is not a matter of sexual equality alone but class equality as well.

The task of women

In order to struggle effectively we women have to work out the precise relationship between the patriarchal dominance of men over women and the property relations which come from this to class exploitation. We women must keep struggling beyond our own situation.

Common struggle against exploitation and alienation

Both sexes need each other for their common struggle against exploitation and alienation. We women need the support of male workers because our struggle at work connects immediately with out situation at home. Our leadership, organization and militancy is vital not only for ourselves, but for the whole oppressed people's liberation in general.