KUALA LUMPUR, 3 July 2025:
Maybank’s attempt to score a public relations coup by glorifying the salaries of its most ordinary employees is a campaign that’s “misleading” at its best and “dishonest” at its worst, Malaysia’s banking union says.
CEO Datuk Khairussaleh Ramli said earlier this week Maybank has created history with its pay structure where the entire workforce at the banking giant has surpassed the Employees Provident Fund’s Belanjawanku living wage benchmark of RM3,100 per month.
The National Union of Banking Employees, or NUBE — which represents over 15,000 clerical and non-clerical banking and financial institution employees across Peninsular Malaysia — had a different take on the matter.
Referring to actual compensation packages of NUBE members at Maybank, the union’s general secretary J Solomon said the salary of the lowest-paid employee “starts at only RM2,370.00 — significantly below the stated benchmark”.
To make his point, Solomon said the February 2025 World Bank Report entitled “A Fresh Take on Reducing Inequality and Enhancing Mobility in Malaysia” confirms the country’s income inequality being higher than that of high-income countries — ensuring Maybank didn’t deserve the credit it sought.
Solomon lamented at Khairussaleh’s narrative, saying it was “unacceptable for the CEO of a leading financial institution to distort facts in this manner”, when the contrary was the truth, with “many frontline workers still struggling to meet basic living standards”.
Disconnect between corporate speak and reality
NUBE’s rebuttal of Maybank’s wage claim exposes the disconnect between corporate speak and employee reality in Malaysia, particularly on the subject of income inequality.
In a nation where the aspiration of a minimum wage often clashes with economic realities, NUBE’s fierce challenge to Maybank’s narrative underscores the ongoing struggle for fair labour practices and genuine income equality.
The union, which has been working since 1958 to ensure members’ remuneration is commensurate with their responsibilities, is clearly signalling that the fight for decent living standards in Malaysia’s banking sector is far from over.
Khairussaleh had positioned Maybank’s living wages as a reflection of the bank’s support for the Finance Ministry’s call for government-linked companies to lead by example in promoting fair pay under the ‘GEAR-uP’ — or GLC Earnings for a Resilient and United People — initiative.
The CEO had emphasised Maybank’s commitment to being a “values-driven organisation” that leverages people and technology to promote “fair, inclusive, and sustainable pay practices”.
He even framed “employee welfare and fair, decent pay not only as a moral responsibility but also as a key enabler for business success” at the bank.
‘Mere statements that ring hollow’ – NUBE says of Maybank’s campaign
Solomon branded Khairussaleh’s remarks as “mere public relations statements that ring hollow when scrutinised”.
He accused Khairussaleh of “not only misleading the public but also deceiving the Finance Ministry including shareholders PNB and EPF by claiming a commitment to champion fair pay practices under the GEAR-uP initiative”.
For Maybank to genuinely champion a decent living for its employees, the salaries of its most ordinary workers must reflect the bank’s profitability, Solomon said.
What existed instead, he rued, were “colossal bonuses” for top managers compared with “far lesser” earnings for common workers that perpetuated income inequality within the bank.
While Maybank cited “festive assistance, interest-free loans, and access to a Staff Welfare Fund” as initiatives to ease financial burdens, NUBE asserted that these were not acts of “benevolence” but rather “benefits which were bargained and negotiated by NUBE in the previous Collective Agreement”.
The current battle over the 20th Collective Agreement, or CA, that decides wages and other benefits for bank employees further illustrates the deep chasm between the two sides. NUBE revealed that CA negotiations have stalled, with the Minister of Human Resources referring the proceedings to the courts “instead of getting the banks to come to the negotiating table with NUBE”.
Another acrimonious point of contention is Maybank’s alleged refusal to honour the Festival Aid, or FA.
NUBE stated that Maybank and 16 other commercial banks in Malaysia initially agreed to provide the FA but discontinued it within a year on the basis that the agreement “was not sanctioned at the Industrial Court”. NUBE contends that this contrasts sharply with Maybank’s behaviour in Indonesia, where it “continues to pay festival aid without any argument only because it is a requirement under the law”.
These acts of Maybank offer a “glaring contradiction” to the PR campaign mounted by Khairussaleh, Solomon said, adding that, in conclusion, they expose “the hypocrisy” behind the CEO’s statements that “call into question the integrity of Maybank’s leadership”.
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