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Flight attendants union urges its members and all airline workers to apply for leave or off day on May 9, saying airlines are not exempt from Election Offences Act.
PETALING JAYA: The National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia (Nufam) today urged all airline employees to apply for leave or an off day on May 9 so that they can vote in the general election.
In what appears to be a call for those in the industry to challenge their employers’ over their rights as citizens, Nufam secretary-general Mohd Akram Osman said airlines are not exempt from complying with the law on this matter.
“Crew members and airline employees in Malaysia are encouraged to apply for leave or an off day to cast their votes,” he said, citing the Election Offences Act 1954 as giving them the right to do so by law.
Section 25(3) of the Election Offences Act 1954 states that any employer who refuses to allow workers to go out and vote on polling day is liable to a fine of not more than RM5,000 or one year in jail upon conviction.
“Therefore, all employees are entitled to cast their vote and it is imperative for airlines to allow their employees to apply for leave or take an off day.
“A reasonable period for workers to return to their hometown to cast their vote is also essential,” Akram said in a statement.
On Tuesday, the Election Commission (EC) announced that the polling day for the 14th general election (GE14) will fall on Wednesday, May 9. On Thursday, the government declared May 9 as a public holiday to ensure more Malaysians the opportunity to come out and vote.
According to Akram, Nufam had received many reports during previous general elections from employees complaining that they had been denied leave to fulfil their obligation to vote “due to operational requirements”.
“This is not an excuse for the airlines to prevent their employees from voting in the general election. Many workers have complained to the union stating that their leave entitlement had also been frozen on that particular date of the general election.
“We urge all airlines to abide by the law as any offence committed by any airline will be dealt with,” he said, warning that the union will be monitoring closely for any complaints from airline workers in the country.
“Airlines should not object to any request made by pilots, cabin crew and ground staff if ever such request is made in writing.”
Akram also suggested for airlines to be transparent on the matter, if they wished to be fair to its staff, by declaring the number of workers who are entitled to take leave and off days on the polling day.
“That will give the workers the opportunity to apply early. All cabin crew and airline workers should submit their leave/off day application as early as possible before April 16.”
He said that Nufam has also written to the Labour Department requesting for assistance to monitor complaints from airline workers who have been denied this entitlement by law to take leave, an off day or time off, to go and cast their vote.
“The airlines must also respond to every leave application made by their employees,” he said, adding that airline staff could contact him at nufamtheunion@nufam.org should they have any enquiry.
Source : http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/…/nufam-airlines-cannot-d…/
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