The concern over trade
or workers’ union in Malaysia has never been remarkable. Having repressive laws
that inhibited the influence of trade unions even since colonial era,
Malaysians paid less attention to the role of trade unions in a society’s
welfare. Moreover, with Hudud and GST clogging up the public sphere, probably
less Malaysians takes concern over the relevance of trade unions.
Trade unions are
instrumental in creating and strengthening collective bargaining power between
the employees and employers. A good relationship between a strong trade union
and the employer helps the workers to enjoy more benefits and see better pay
commensurate with increased productivity. Strong trade unions are pertinent in
making sure the rights of the workers are not violated by the employers,
besides being a medium to boost labour productivity.
Historically, the
colonial master, the British Empire was never fond of workers’ union. The
British introduce the Societies Ordinance as far back as 1889 to prohibit the
growing influence of the working class, apart from the nationalist fighters.
The Communist forces, which has been painted negatively in Malaysian history
played vital role in the growth of trade unions of Malaya back then.
The Malayan Communist
Party led the Open Front comprising of other political parties and
organisations in the aftermath of recapture of Malaya by the British forces
after the downfall of Japanese occupation. In this front, the General Labour
Union (GLU) played a crucial role in fighting for the Malayan independence.
This GLU was later divided into two; one in-charge of Singapore’s labour union
whilst the Malaya’s was taken care by the Pan-Malayan Federation of Trade Union
(PMFTU). The Communist force also played a role in controlling the PMFTU and
advocating against liberation of Malaya.
Looking at the possible
damage that can be caused by such labour unions in many issues and particularly
opposing the Federation of Malaya 1948 proposal, the British oppressors
enforced registration of all trade unions. Government servants were prohibited
from joining unions of non-government employees. This is in pursuit of a divide
in unity of the domestic workforce. Further actions were taken to mandate
registration of trade unions in which trade unions’ membership can only be
opened workers’ in similar occupation and industries. This rendered PMFTU as
illegal and further weakened trade unions’ activities in Malaya.
A comprehensive
analysis of current legislations pertaining to Malaysia’s labour law show that
such provisions introduced by the British exist till today.
Malaysia’s legislations
on employment and industrial relations comprises of the Trade Union Act,
Industrial Relations Act and the Employment Act. There are many existing
provisions that weaken the influence of trade unions. For example, trade unions
can only be regional and not national which means that a trade union can be
formed to cover Peninsular Malaysia or Sabah or Sarawak, but a single trade
union cannot include all three. Besides, workers’ unions used to be not
permissible in industries conferred with “pioneer” status under Section 15 of
Industrial Relations Act, but has since been annulled after amendment in 2007.
To note, whilst trade unions can be formed within the electrical sector, in
electronics sector, trade unions were limited to “in-house establishment”,
which means trade union within a company and not inclusive of employees of the
company’s subsidiary workers. This rule was only relaxed in 2009 when the
Cabinet allowed regional trade unions for the electronics sector.
Thus, the status quo is
establishment of four regional trade unions in Peninsular Malaysia; Western,
Eastern, Northern and Southern. However, the rule is not fully liberalised
since the Electronic Industry Employees Union covers only workers in Peninsular
Malaysia, not including workers of East Malaysia. As aforementioned, apart from
not allowing civil servants to join trade unions with non-civil servants, only
workers from similar occupation can form a trade union. This essentially means,
while lorry drivers can form a trade union, it cannot include teachers and
bankers.
Effects
of Poor Labour Law
Such rules and
provisions fragment the workforce and weaken collective bargaining power. This
opens the way for the “capitalists” to ill-treat the workers and not paying
sufficient wages. This explains why there are claims regarding employers not
adhering to the minimum wage rule and mistreating the employees. A study by Verite
(a global NGO) and funded by the United States Department of Labour, found evidences
about abuse of workers' rights in Malaysia's RM241 billion electronics industry.
Malaysia’s 1st
Human Development Report specifically touches on effects of weak workers’ union
in Malaysia. Share of wages to national income has actually decreased from 33.8%
in 1970 to 32.9% in 2012. But in contrast to this, corporate profits has
increased from about half of the national income to nearly two-thirds during
the same period. Malaysia’s share of wages is low in comparison to other
countries; South Korea’s share is 50.6%, Singapore’s 42.3% and the United
Kingdom’s 62.6%. It is also added that trade union density has dropped by about
40% since 1982 and currently only eight per cent of Malaysian workers belong to
a union. This is despite growing number of union members and trade unions in
Malaysia.
In the past, workers’
who tried to fight for the rights of the other workers have been suspended and
even fired. For instance, Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) took serious
actions (sacking, issuance of show-cause letter) over many employees after
nearly 700 Railwaymen’s Union of Malaysia (RUM) picketed against the
mismanagement of KTMB. They also voiced for the resignation of KTMB’s President,
Datuk Kadir Elias. Although the affected workers were re-instated, they were
required to sign a memorandum which included reduction of salaries, according
to the President of RUM, Abdul Razak Md Hassan who refused to
sign.
Apart from that, President
of the National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia (NUFAM), Ismail Nasaruddin
was terminated by Malaysian Airlines Systems Berhad (MAS) for issuance of media
statement urging MAS CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya (now former CEO) to resign. It was
mentioned by NUFAM that the CEO has failed to take care of the workers’ plight
since his appointment. The list goes on and on about such actions by employers
that weaken and inhibit the activities of the trade unions.
Conclusion
Malaysia’s productivity
level, despite being lower than many developed nations such as Japan and
Singapore, is actually growing ahead of other emerging economies. Data from the
Malaysia’s Productivity Report 2013/2014 shows that productivity between 2009
and 2013 has increased by 11.7%. But, the bigger question is, has the salary
increased as much too?
To recall, minimum wage
policy was introduced after it was noticed that salary increment fell behind
productivity growth. Few years ago, a World Bank report noted that in the past
decade, Malaysia’s productivity growth was 6.7% whilst the salary increment was
merely 2.6%. Such scenario may re-emerge, and thus strong trade unions
(especially a national-level trade union comprising of all workers) can work
towards helping the workers get compensation that they deserve.
For that, Malaysia
needs strong amendments to the existing laws with the workers’ welfare in mind,
while at the same time, is fair to the employers. However, recent announcement
by Deputy Human Resource Ministers, Datuk Seri Ismail Abdul Mutalib that the
government will propose amendments to the Trade Unions Act 1959 to ensure it
will be in tandem to the TPP trade agreement, creates more questions. First, is
the TPP sure to be ratified? Second, will the workers’ right be trampled in
order to satisfy foreign multi-national corporations (MNCs)?
Malaysians need to
voice out for stronger trade unions; for your own benefit.
