Petrol dealers warn 14,000 workers may lose jobs

Claiming impact of weekly price change affecting its members, Petrol Dealers Association of Malaysia says retrenchment will cushion impact of losses.

PETALING JAYA: Petrol Dealers Association of Malaysia (PDAM) president Khairul Annuar says with the weekly price change having a major impact on retailers across the country, thousands of workers may lose their jobs, The Star reported.

He said this was a drastic but necessary measure for these dealers to take in order to cut their monthly expenses in running their petrol dealership.

“If cost continues to be an issue, 14,000 people will lose their jobs as we will go for full self-service,” Khairul was quoted as saying.

According to him, there are a total of 3,500 petrol stations nationwide with a workforce of 50,000, of which 14,000 are forecourt staff (pump attendants).

A nationwide survey commissioned by PDAM had also revealed that only 21% of the workers at petrol stations are foreign workers while the rest are locals.

“This is contrary to popular belief on the composition of foreign workers at petrol stations,” Khairul told the daily.

However, he admitted that the survey shows the level of foreign workers is 40%, when taking only petrol stations in urban areas into account.

Meanwhile, Khairul said on average 30 to 40 petrol stations per brand – Shell, Petron, Petronas, BHP and Caltex – have ceased operations since the implementation of the monthly price change mechanism for fuel prices in December 2014.

“This situation is getting worse, more so in recent weeks following the weekly price change mechanism starting April 1.

“We are concerned that more dealers will give up their dealership if the trend continues,” Khairul was quoted as saying by The Star.

He added that the biggest impact was felt in cities or towns where there are too many stations within the same vicinity, such as in Johor Baru.

“Also affected are stations in rural areas, where their sale is low and dealers don’t have a petrol mart or convenient store income to subsidise the weekly loss,” Khairul was quoted as saying. -FMT