MTUC must repair damaged prestige and strengthen the national centre

by K George
Aliran Monthly 2003:8

The MTUC's prestige suffered a setback

It is indeed heartening that the Malaysian mass media have highlighted the frustrating function of our Industrial Court. I refer to the stories that appeared in the Malay Mail of July 1 and the NST of July 2. Most of the disputes relate to disagreement of proposals for collective agreement, non-compliance of collective agreements and unlawful dismissals of workers. Settlement of trade disputes has over the years become a time-consuming process simply because of the absence of a time-frame in the labour laws.

MTUC secretary general, Mr. Rajasekaran has pointed out in his press statement instances of some of the Chairmen of the Industrial Court sitting on the cases even after the hearing has been completed. It must be emphasized that the vast majority of the workers depend entirely on their wages. They have only their labour to offer for their survival and that of their families. If a dismissed worker has to wait five to seven years before he secures an award directing his re-instatement or compensation, we can well imagine the misery he and his family would have undergone during those long years. Any Chairman who leaves his job without making an award even after the closing of the case deserves to be condemned and punished.

No Chairman should be allowed to delay the award more than a month after the closing of the hearing. There are ways to drastically minimize delay in settling disputes. For instance, conciliation by the Industrial Relations Department must be completed within three months. There is absolutely no necessity to refer the dispute to the Minister of Human Resources. If conciliation fails, the dispute must be referred to the Industrial Court direct and the Court must not take more than six months to make an award. Either party involved in the dispute should not be allowed to challenge the award in the higher courts.

In case the MTUC, Employer, or the Government feels there should be an avenue for challenging the award, then let an appeal court be established solely for dealing with Industrial Court awards. I am happy to note that the Minister, Dato Dr Fong Chan Onn, has undertaken to minimise the delay in settling the labour disputes. He mentioned “Justice delayed is justice denied” but as for workers, justice delayed bread and butter is denied. Former Industrial Court Chairman, Abdul Alim Abdullah, who was transferred on promotion as Chief Executive Officer of the Companies Commissions Of Malaysia, should be instructed to write his awards of seven cases, the hearing of which had already been completed almost a year before his transfer.

Other Problems

Besides settling disputes, there are other problems faced by our workers. I wish to highlight some of them. First and foremost, labour should never be treated as a commodity to barter. An industry consists of capital, management and labour. They should be accepted and treated as equal partners. It must be recognized by all concerned that without labour, there will be no yield, in spite of the highly advanced technology and sophisticated robots. Workers are entitled to workers’ rights, which include the right to work and the freedom of association, which in effect means forming trade unions.

Denial of the right to collective bargaining means a trade union becomes merely a club.

The primary function of a trade union is collective bargaining in order to secure fair and just terms and conditions for employment. But in Malaysia there are several legal restrictions with regard to the formation and functions of the trade unions. Over and above that, the employers resort to various tactics including threat of dismissal with a view to discouraging workers from joining or forming unions. As a result, only 11% of the workers have been unionised.

Collective bargaining is restricted by law to only private sector unions. Even these unions are not allowed to include issues such as promotion, transfer, appointment of employees, terminations, retrenchment and assignment of duties in their proposals for collective bargaining. These are matters pertaining to the conditions of employment. Such prohibitions are not in conformity with workers rights.

As regards public employees, although they are permitted to form unions, their rights to collective bargaining, which had been in existence since the colonial era, was withdrawn by our elected government in 1979. Denial of the right to collective bargaining means a trade union becomes merely a club. Public employees in Malaysia can be terminated in the public interest. But their right to challenge in a court of law has been denied by an amendment to article 152 of our supreme law. It is an internationally recognized fact that workers must have the right to strike.

However, according to our labour laws, private sector unions may decide on resorting to strike and proceed with the necessary steps including balloting but the strike will not proceed if the minister refers the dispute to the Industrial Court. Strike means withdrawal of labour by which a worker forgoes his/her wages. But it is the right of the workers and it is the final weapon in the armoury of trade unions in their pursuit of better terms and conditions of employment and of restoring the dignity of labour.

Political Consciousness

I have touched on only a few of the problems of our workers. There are many more. Recognizing the various formidable problems of the workers, the MTUC held a 2-day symposium on “Labour’s struggle towards the year 2000" in May 1989. The deliberations led to the conclusion that only through some form of political action can the working people obtain their basic right and restore their dignity. All laws are enacted by Parliament which consists of people’s representatives. The vast majority of voters are workers and their families. It has been well established that trade unions are political organizations though not political parties. The symposium realised the importance of instilling political consciousness in workers. To realize social justice and an egalitarian society, involvement in politics is inevitable. Unlike several other countries where trade unions are usually linked to a political party of their choice, the symposium decided that the MTUC would continue to maintain its independence. Nevertheless, at the time of general election the National Centre (MTUC) would submit a Manifesto containing the minimum programme of the working people to both the ruling and opposition parties. The MTUC would then call upon the working people to vote for whichever party that endorses the manifesto.

Since the decision was taken in May 1989, three general elections have been held. But unfortunately, this vital decision was not systematically carried out by the National Centre. It is no use sending the manifesto to a political party on the eve of the election. First, the MTUC must get the endorsement of its General Council, preferably affiliated unions as well. The Manifesto should be given wide publicity.

The staffing situation must be improved; organizing potential workers in trade unions is necessary to strengthen the National Centre. Leadership should be united. Differences must be reduced by frank and friendly dialogue. Workers should be encouraged to join NGOs that are committed to human rights, freedom and democracy and consumer groups. Always bear in mind that the MTUC is a multi-religious, multi-social, multi-lingual mass organization.

The prestige of the MTUC suffered a setback because its incumbent president Zainal Rampak went back on his written undertaking that he would hand over the presidency to his deputy at the end of last year. In fact Zainal became president after signing such an agreement with his predecessor Dr. P.P Narayanan, now no more with us. As an ex-vice president, I look forward to witness the progress of the National Centre.

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