Malaysia is one of Asia's biggest employers of foreign labour. But recently, cases of deaths, abuse and forced labour have come to light. What is going on? Who is protecting these migrant workers?
I REFER to the letter published on October 25 by unnamed members of the Labour Law Reform Coalition (LLRC). While I respect the right of the organisation to air its views, I feel the writer is attempting to neutralise the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) by supporting the actions of Human Resources Minister M. Kula Segaran.
I believe that LLRC’s support for the hurriedly passed Industrial Relations Bill is an attempt to spread false and misleading messages that are not in favour of the workers in the country.
The fact remains that the minister, for reasons unknown to us, initiated the process for the amendments be considered by the Dewan Rakyat when tripartite discussions involving the unions, employers and the ministry were not over at the technical committee before being sent to the National Labour Action Council (NLAC) for deliberation.
One fails to understand why the ministry resorted to such a hasty action, contrary to what was promised. The minister and his supporters in the media misrepresented to the public that the NLAC had discussed the amendments in its nine meetings. This was evident when the ministry refused to provide the minutes of the NLAC meetings to substantiate their claims.
After 60 years, the initial action by the ministry to review and revise labours laws was much appreciated and welcomed by all. The expectation was that there will be a comprehensive review of the laws so that they will be in line with the modernisation of the Malaysian economy; compatible with international labour standards and provide rights to workers.
The expectation was that the revised laws will see unions as contributors to the national economy and not viewed suspiciously, as is the case now.
We say again that the amendments contain few changes, and it cannot be considered as a proper review of the laws. The changes are only cosmetic, and it will have no impact towards building a constructive industrial relations environment.
The bill will further weaken unions by pitting them against each other, as a result of allowing multiple unions to be recognised at each workplace. This will allow for unhealthy union rivalry, fights over membership coverage and it will result in further weakening of the movement.
The LLRC cannot call these amendments as being in the right direction. Only those who propagate anti-union activities will support such amendments.
The amendments have vested too much power in the director-general of industrial relations (DGIR) to choose and decide which union will be given the right as the bargaining agent at the workplace.
The principle of constructive industrial relations and the International Labour Organisation say that government authorities should have the least role in an industrial relations environment, but in this case, the DGIR will not only be involved but also play a major role. Moreover, the process could take a long time and could result in unnecessary harassment of union leaders by asking them to provide all sorts of information.
The unidentified group says that it appreciates the amendments to allow dismissal cases and violation of collective agreements to be subject to immediate referral to the Industrial Relations Court. On the contrary, this is not the right way to develop a healthy industrial relations environment.
Instead, the union and the employer should be allowed to go through conciliation and mediation processes by professionals incorporating speedy and resolutions in good faith to be considered in all cases, including dismissals, before the aggrieved party decides to refer the matter to court.
Considering the current legal restrictions placed on industrial action and these amendments which further restrict industrial action, the law will in no way give unions equal strength to employers. Unions should have the ability to take industrial action in any dispute as that is the only way unions can be said to have equal strength to employers. This is not only denied in the current law but the amendments now bar workers from picketing once the matter is referred to the industrial court.
Another regressive change is to allow just about any Tom, Dick and Harry to represent dismissed workers in court. It bars advocates and solicitors from representation. Anyone here means it could include any individual who may or may not be a representative of a union. This will allow a worker to be represented by non-union employees.
You don’t need to know rocket science to see that this is another dangerous amendment. It is designed to prevent unions from representing their members. Moreover, the DGIR will have the power to approve or disapprove who could represent a worker. This is, again, against the principle of authorities to be neutral and have as little as possible involvement in industrial relations and allow free and voluntary interaction between the unions and employers.
We believe this amendment will result in the emergence of industrial relations consultants and commercialising representation at the Industrial Relations Department. Eventually workers will be the victims and end up paying the highest price for a poorly constructed industrial relations system in the country.
The MTUC has claimed that the NLAC did not have appropriate consultations or discussions before the minister decided to table the bill. This did not mean that there was any requirement for the employers and unions to come to any agreement at the NLAC. It simply meant that there was need for proper and adequate discussions within the NLAC to consider all the suggestions made including the amendments suggested by the ministry and the implication on workers and unions. This did not take place.
The MTUC is the recognised labour centre of workers in Malaysia. It is recognised as one of the constituents of the tripartite parties to the ILO and has been recognised by the government as the representative of the workers in Malaysia for the last 70 years. This cannot be denied by anyone.
Therefore, it is wrong for any other group to claim that they represent MTUC.
What is surprising is that the minister is giving prominence to groups within the organisation that we deem as sour grapes. If these groups have any proposals on the law reform, they are most welcome to submit or discuss them with the MTUC leadership.
By not doing this and instead resorting to questioning the activities of MTUC and its motives, one wonders what is the hidden motive of this unidentified group. It is evident that they are not speaking up for the workers in Malaysia and were indulging in unhealthy politicking in their bid to weaken the labour movement.
It is really unfortunate that a minister who has only been in office for 17 months has chosen to collude with individuals and foreign funded organisations to divide and destroy MTUC and the unions. It is a shame that this minister chose to forget the support MTUC gave Pakatan Harapan before it came to power.
The MTUC has held a number of public consultations while keeping its affiliates aware of its actions. If this unidentified group is sincere they would have approached the MTUC with their suggestions. The fact that they did not, speaks volumes of their selfish interest in the issue.
There are also a number of other areas where the ministry has simply ignored to make the changes for the betterment of workers’ welfare. These are not in line with ILO standards. There are too many restrictions on the scope of collective bargaining. Civil servants and those employed by statutory authorities are not allowed collective bargaining nor do they have access to the courts should they have problems.
Still there are restrictions on workers who could be members of unions. Managerial and security staff are not allowed to join unions. This is against ILO principles.
The minister should be honest, sincere and genuine in his intention instead of giving sweeteners and eventually destroy the union’s bargaining power. I appeal to the prime minister to intervene and consider the outcry of the 15 million workers who will become unproductive through infighting as a result of these demeaning amendments.
Address: Wisma MTUC,10-5, Jalan USJ 9/5T, 47620 Subang Jaya,Selangor | Tel: 03-80242953 | Fax: 03-80243225 | Email: sgmtuc@gmail.com.com