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PETALING JAYA: The Registrar of Societies (RoS) has confirmed that the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has been suspended and given 30 days to explain why it should not be deregistered, but with a new notice dated Dec 18.
The earlier notice dated Dec 16 has been rescinded, MTUC secretary-general J Solomon was told during a meeting with Selangor RoS, after a screenshot of the notice went viral on social media today.
Solomon said that at the meeting, a RoS official expressed regret that the Dec 16 notice “had been viralled by unidentified people”.
“We see the attempt to viral the RoS notice, which had actually been rescinded, as an attempt to smear MTUC’s good name and reputation,” he said.
He said he was also informed that Selangor RoS had sent a fresh notice dated Dec 18 to MTUC.
The RoS official told Solomon that MTUC was barred from holding meetings until it submits a written explanation in 30 days.
The official did not go into the reasons for the suspension.
Solomon said MTUC had yet to receive the latest letter, adding that it was in the dark as to the reason behind the suspension notice.
“However, MTUC will extend full cooperation and adhere to the contents of the RoS letter once it receives it,” he said.
In a statement, RoS said they received a complaint on July 2 about mismanagement in MTUC and opened an investigation the following month. It said it was giving MTUC 30 days to explain why it should not be deregistered.
The latest development comes amid a war of words between MTUC and the human resources ministry over the Labour Laws Reform (LLR) Bill, which the union said was being bulldozed without consultation with stakeholders.
The earlier notice from RoS was issued under Section 13(2A) of the Societies Act 1966, which gives it the right to suspend all activities of a registered society “in the interest of the public”.
“As such, we hereby order that all activities of the above-mentioned organisation are suspended from the date of this order, except for the purpose of answering Notice 13(2),” said the letter to MTUC dated Dec 16.
MTUC, the oldest national union representing workers, has some 500,000 members represented through its affiliate organisations across industries and sectors.
The union recognised by the Malaysian government, is part of the National Joint Labour Advisory Council, and makes representations for the International Labour Organisation.
Source : https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/…/confusion-as-ros-revok…/
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