“If you have nothing to say, say nothing” – Mark Twain. “You say it best, when you say nothing at all” – Ronan Keating. These are the lyrics I use to console myself through my late post ordeal.
For those of you who don’t know, I’ve recently been caught up in an entrepreneurial stint – selling homemade hot sauce online. Went on a guilt trip for having missed (for the first time since this blog started), Late Night Laws’ monthly article update (January 2021 article to be exact).
When the J&T issue cropped up, I came to the self-realization that perhaps I just wanted to write when there is something I want to write about. Emphasis added, as of course Ex-AG Tommy Thomas’ memoir ‘Justice In The Wilderness’, Malaysia’s emergency declaration, GameStop and the continued march of the minimum wage for pupils are all issues and imminent issues to talk about.
The J&T Issue
So two days ago, I read the news about J&T workers “violently sorting” packages as a result of an alleged pay cut by their employers. Below is an infographic by LoudAsians of “The J&T tweet”:
Since then J&T has issued a press release stating that “J&T will not deduct or owe employees a penny of wages”.
Note that the sentence was worded in the future tense (“will not”), a sentence very likely crafted by persons of our trade, leaving the elephant in the room : Did J&T or did J&T not? You would think a straightforward defence would sound like… “J&T did not deduct and does not owe employees a penny of wages” right? *Wink wink*
Now of course the only people who knows the facts are J&T themselves and possibly the invited “public and institutions”. Nonetheless, I have some sympathy towards pay cuts in industries such as the like.
Waltmart-ology
To understand this, all my current ventures are inspired by two stars :
1) Nusret Gökçe – a Turkish butcher, chef, and restaurateur, also known as Saltbae; and
2) Sam Walton, founder of Walmart from whom my favourite quote is derived – “Every time Walmart spends one dollar foolishly, it comes right out of our customers’ pockets. Every time we save them a dollar, that puts us one more step ahead of the competition – which is where we always plan to be“. Beautiful.
It is from the latter, Walmart, that I acquire my sympathy towards pay cuts and cheap labour. The concept as per Walton is simple – to lower prices and make a profit, one must have lower costs. Giving end customers the best value for money means lowering costs where possible. And overhead costs are no exception. (Assuming said business isn’t non-profit of course).
What has it got to do with J&T?
Even if it was true that J&T Express did pay cut their employees, it would be premature to denounce the move as “profit-driven” per se.
I know for a fact that J&T Express is one of the people’s favourite both in East and West Malaysia when it comes to consumer goods. Not only because they ship on weekends, but also because they offer one of the lowest shipping fees in the country. For e-commerce same state deliveries within Peninsular Malaysia for instance, DHL would charge RM4.77, Poslaju RM5.04, Ninjavan RM4.03 and J&T RM4.66, making J&T Express one of the cheapest courier services.
High sales does not equal high profits
Based on the J&T tweet, the author seems to say that because the company (being J&T Express) handles 100K items a day, it does not warrant employee pay cuts. Yet, high sales does not always equal high profits. To offer the best value for money, means sometimes having to absorb increased cost price of raw materials, fuel oil, tax, minimum wage laws and inflation.
Even Walmart, America’s beloved discount store, received a lot of flak for allegedly paying its workers less than its competitors. But that’s all part of Walmart’s overriding aim: to give every customer the best possible deal by having the lowest-possible costs, across the board (taken from ‘How to Spot the Next Starbucks, Whole Foods, Walmart or McDonalds Before Its Shares Explode’ by Mark Tier).
The question is whether employees should be paid bonuses because they worked more or because the company profited more? And when we’re up against (justified) pay cuts, how much more are we willing to lose a low cost courier?
That’s all folks. Have a wonderful MCO Chinese New Year!
Workload increasing but commission is cut from RM1.50 to RM0.60. Too much la. Even a bottle of mineral water is is at least RM1.00 now. Some riders I heard can’t even claim mileage. Sigh. IF the company is making money, I think it’s just dumb for them to treat their workers this way. Worker turnovers will be high and service quality will be affected – this is the high cost of low wages. Anyways, do continue writing about topics you do wanna write about. The flair and enthusiasm in your words will come through more naturally I think.
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