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| Trade unions and politics (Part 2)
by K George
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Mahathir Mohamad became the fourth Prime Minister in July 1981. A few years later, the MTUC requested for a meeting, as used to be the practice in the past. There was no reply from the Prime Minister. Later on, in response to an enquiry from a reporter, Mahathir replied that he had nothing to offer to the MTUC and so he wouldn�t want to waste their (MTUC�s) time. For reasons known to himself, Mahathir had been antagonistic to the MTUC. He went on a charade of personal criticism of the president, Zainal Rampak, and the secretary-general, Dr. V. David, on false and baseless issues. David was one of the 106 victims arrested under the ISA during Operation Lalang in October 1987. He was Mahathir�s �guest� in Kamunting for a period of 222 days. That was not enough. Both Zainal and David were charged for allegedly committing CBT involving RM20,000. Some months later, the prosecution withdrew the charges. At the 1989 May Day rally, some speakers were naturally critical of the government for its untoward and unkind treatment of the workers and their unions. Angered by this, the former deputy premier, Ghafar Baba, told the media it was time that the government took steps to establish an alternate labour centre in line with practices in Indonesia and Singapore, where the government appoints a Minister to be its leader.
Zainal becomes a senator One fine day in August 1998, the MTUC received a call from the PM�s office inviting its leaders for a meeting with Mahathir. It was a pleasant surprise for them. On 7 August, ten principal leaders of the MTUC went to meet the PM. The PM then met Zainal privately. What they talked for 45 minutes still remains unclear. At this meeting the MTUC submitted its proposals. One of them was for a minimum wage of RM900 a month. Mahathir�s response was shocking. He felt RM900 was not enough for a household to survive for a month. He suggested RM1200. He appeared to the delegation as sincere. Five and half years have lapsed and Mahathir has left the scene. Nothing has happened. The meeting was pleasant though. As the delegation came out of the meeting somebody from the PM�s office whispered to them: �Zainal might be appointed as a Senator.� They were startled. They looked at each other. �What�s happening?� they seemed to be asking themselves. Neither the MTUC nor Zainal�s union, the TWU, asked the PM for a Senatorship. Subsequently, they came to know one UMNO man connected to a union had written a letter to Mahathir requesting him to appoint Zainal as a Senator. Of course, Mahathir needed such a letter to finalise the �Barter Trading.� At that time none of them knew that a conspiracy had already been in place to dismiss Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim from the Cabinet and UMNO and to destroy his career. Incidently, Anwar was a friend of the MTUC. Zainal and some other leaders used to meet him occasionally. Subsequent to the sacking of Anwar on 1 Sept.1998, a number of MTUC leaders visited Anwar to convey their sympathy � but not Zainal. Well, it is clear that he was still waiting for the Senatorship, which only came in November. Undermining the MTUC's mandate I wish to refresh your memory pertaining to the decisions of a symposium held in 1989 on the MTUC's involvemnet in politics, which was mentioned in Part 1. A Political Bureau under the chairmanship of the MTUC president was established to present a workers' manifesto stipulating the demands and aspirations of the working people during general elections. Any political party that accepted the manifesto would receive MTUC's unreserved support. Immediately after this decision the 8th general election was held in 1990. Gagasan Rakyat headed by Tunku Razaleigh Hamzah accepted the MTUC's manifesto. It is history that Gagasan, which was expected to win the election, suffered a thrashing by the Barisan Nasional which mounted a persistent malicious lie portraying Ku Li as anti-Malay and pro-Christian because he wore a native's traditional headgear which had an emblem supposedly resembling a "cross" during his visit to Sabah three days before the election. Then came the 9th general election in 1995. Gagasan Rakyat disappeared from the political arena. This time, MTUC's manifesto was endorsed only by the DAP. The 10th general election was held in 1999, one year after Anwar was arrested, locked up, blindfolded, handcuffed and dealt lethal blows. UMNO was split. The BN was very shaky. However, Senator Zainal, the Chairman of the MTUC's Political Bureau obtained a decision from this bureau not to proceed with the manifesto - a blatant departure from the decision of the symposium which was unanimously endorsed by the Delegates Conference of the MTUC. Thus, he undermined the MTUC's Manifesto. Clinging to the presidency According to MTUC sources, the Political Bureau has never met again. Disgusted, certain quarters attempted to oust him at the MTUC election in 2001. But he managed to enter into a deed with his opponent. He signed a written agreement to the effect that he would abdicate his presidency in favour of his opponent after one year. Ironically, he became the MTUC president in 1986 as a result of an agreement signed with the incumbent a year before in 1985. That agreement was honoured by the late PP Narayanan. But Zainal preferred the presidency to honour. It has brought disruption to the MTUC and split the labour movement. Zainal�s creditability as a labour leader suffered a serious set back. So what? He is still the MTUC president! When MTUC leaders with over 500 supporters marched to the Putra Jaya on 19 January 2004 to submit a memorandum listing out their grievances to the new Prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, only a press officer was there to receive them. It is time that the trade unions started analyzing their clout. The 11th general election was held on 21 March 2004 under the leadership of Abdullah Badawi. Contrary to the existing decision of MTUC, its general council decided to publish its manifesto and to invite candidates contesting for parliamentary seats to support the manifesto and to enter into a social contract with the national centre.
That was the primary reason for the 1989 symposium to decide to seek the support of the parties. Coming back to the 11th election, the MTUC�s manifesto was endorsed by 8 candidates from three different parties, including one from Barisan Nasional. None of them succeeded in the elections. Nevertheless, the media carried a story announcing MTUC�s support to the BN after the election. I am inclined to believe that the MTUC appears to have decided to support the new PM Datuk Sri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. It is, indeed, a tactical change of strategy with the justifiable hope that the collective bargaining right of the public sector trade unions, abruptly withdrawn in 1979, will be restored; that the public sector employees will get back the right to natural justice, which was denied to them by amending Article 135 of the Constitution; that the obnoxious provisions in the labour laws will be abrogated; that a minimum wage of RM1,200 will be legislated as indicated by Mahathir on 7 August 1998 and that the dignity of labour will be restored together with a policy of social justice. Trade unions and politics (Part 1) Now e-mail us and tell us what you think. | |||||||||||||||
On 7 August, ten principal leaders of the MTUC went to meet the PM. The PM then met Zainal privately. What they talked for 45 minutes still remains unclear.
