Don’t blame us for MAS losses, union tells airlines

Don’t blame us for MAS losses, union tells airlines

July 8, 2014

   A file photo taken on July 5, 2005 shows a man silhouetted against a Malaysian Airlines plane tail as he looks out through a window at Sydney International Airport. — AFP pic KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 — The view that the Malaysia Airlines System Employees Union (Maseu) was the cause for the airline’s losses was wrong, said Union Network International-Malaysian Liaison Council president Mohamed Shafie BP Mammal.

In a statement issued here today, he said Maseu always had an open mind and supported any change which did not jeopardise any party.

“Do not point fingers at any employee union when a company suffers losses.  The management is important in maintaining a balance between the role of the union and the company’s operations,” he said.

Mohamed Shafie said a statement which described the union as the main obstacle to the airline’s profits had the risk of worsening the situation.

On July 6, Bernama reported that Institute of Democracy and Economic Affairs chief executive officer Wan Saiful Wan Jan said the main obstacle to MAS regaining profits was its employees’ union.

Wan Saiful felt that every effort made to revamp the airline to enable it to become profitable again would face opposition from the union.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Trades Union Congress vice-president J. Solomon said it was most unfair and naive to blame the trade union for the ills of MAS.

He pointed out that MAS had won many international awards for the quality of its service and this was due mainly to the efforts of its workers.

Solomon, however, contended that over a period of a few decades, huge amounts of public funds had been used to save MAS from corporate failure.

“Each time, there was a promise of a brighter tomorrow with the only predictable outcome being that the public has been disappointed, time and again,” he said. — Bernama - Malay Mail Online, 8/7/2014, Don’t blame us for MAS losses, union tells airlines