Whilst National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia (Nufam) have been vocal on the new MAS Bill, that puts all existing MAS employees in limbo - and even possibly result in the end of all MAS In-House Unions and Associations. When this becomes law, MAS would have no more assets or work - so all employees would be terminated - nay, retrenched. But will there be any money in MAS to even pay all these about 20,000 employees their retrenchment/termination benefits.
The proposed new law is already clear that Malaysian Airlines Berhad (MAB) will have the sole discretion as to who it employs. So, maybe some of the current MAS employees will be re-employed and some not. Will those re-employed even enjoy the same wages and benefits - well, no guarantees and it all will depend very much on the new employer?
What happens to the wrongful dismissal cases in court against MAS? Well, you would not be able to get reinstated if MAS is no more. Compensation - well, if MAS has no money, how will they be able to pay compensation? Wind-up MAS - well, would that not be a futile exercise when all the assets are gone.
UNIONS - well, if it is an in-house Union, well we can say 'good bye' to them. A National Union would survive, but alas they too will have to go through the entire process of claiming recognition all over again, would they not?
A quick look at Clause 28 may give the impression that we are talking about MASEU and all the now existing Unions representing MAS employees ...BUT alas it is not so we are talking only about trade unions and associations 'duly recognized by the Malaysians Airlines Berhad', that new entity...
Negotiation with trade unions and associations
28. (1) All matters to be discussed or negotiated between the Malaysia Airlines Berhad and—
(a) any trade union duly recognized by the Malaysia Airlines Berhad in accordance with the Industrial Relations Act 1967 and the Trade Unions Act 1959; and
(b) any association recognized by the Malaysia Airlines Berhad,
shall be by way of meetings....
So, it is most odd that the Unions and Associations of MAS Employees, safe for NUFAM, seems to be too quite. Are they just not aware or is it for some other reason,
The Malaysian government is moving at lightning pace with this Bill. It was passed at the Dewan Rakyat, one day after it was tabled for first reading. It is listed on the agenda for Day 1 of the sitting of the Senate which starts Monday, 1/12/2014... So before people realize the implications, it may have already become law...
There seems to have been concern about 'business contracts' - but little or no concern about the employees and their trade unions. The Hansard for 27/11/2014 is also still not out and we cannot even see what came out in the debate before the Bill was passed.
See also:-
All MAS employees set to lose their jobs when the MAS Admin Bill becomes law, and a new entity MAB takes over the national carrier?
Union cries foul on new MAS Bill
The National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia (Nufam) wants to study MAS Bill before it’s further debated in Parliament.
KUALA
LUMPUR: The National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia (Nufam) has,
in an initial reaction, described new legislation dealing with Malaysia
Airlines (MAS) as lopsided and promotes discriminatory practices against
airline crew and is at odds with current industry practices.
Nufam demanded that Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the national sovereign
fund which has nearly 70 per cent stake in MAS, to provide the union a
copy of the draft Act before it is debated further in Parliament.
“The draft law steers employees and its Unions off the normal legal
process in filing any industrial disputes against the carrier,” the
union said in a statement. “The proposed law aims to block the workers
and their unions from taking legal action against MAS should their
rights be compromised.”
“There are also several clauses to provide protection and also to
overthrow the current legal process which has been recognised by law
under the Trade Union Act and Industrial Relations Act.”
It added that the proposed act also contains clauses to fend off any
claims third-parties may make in the future against the airline.
Details of the ‘Employee Consultative Panel’ (ECP) promised by
Khazanah to ‘address employee-related concerns’ and the “Corporate
Reskilling Center” which will be set up to address the ‘reskilling of
appropriate MAS staff who do not migrate to “NewCo”, a new company, have
not been disclosed.
Nufam aside, the Malaysia Airlines System Employees Union (Maseu),
Malaysia Airlines Employees Union Peninsular Malaysia, and the Malaysia
Airlines Pilot Association also represent MAS workers.
The passing of the Malaysian Airline System Berhad (Administration)
Bill 2014 or “MAS Bill” in parliament on Thursday is meant to help MAS
restructure in order to put it on the road to profitability once again.
The Bill gives wide ranging powers to the Administrator of the new
entity or “NewCo” that will replace Malaysian Airline System Berhad or
MAS.
The MAS Bill gives wide powers to the Administrator to transfer property and liabilities belonging to MAS.
The MAS Bill also allows “NewCo” to be freed of any obligation to
continue to hire existing MAS employees based on the same contractual
terms.
The new Bill exempts “NewCo” from being named as a party in any claim
registered by current or former employees of MAS and its subsidiaries.
Point 8 of Khazanah’s 12 point plan estimates a net reduction of
6,000 employees from the approximately 20,000 employees currently being
employed by MAS. - FMT News, 28/11/2014, Union cries foul on new MAS Bill
Airline crew union cries foul against proposed MAS Act
LUMPUR, Nov 27 — The government’s proposal for new legislation dealing
with the national carrier is lopsided and promotes discriminatory
against airline crew that is at odds with current industry practices,
its union said today.
Responding to the MAS Act tabled in Parliament yesterday, the National
Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia (Nufam) said the proposed law aims
to block the workers and their unions from taking legal action against
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) should their rights be compromised.
“It is seen to steer employees and its Unions off the normal legal
process in filing any industrial disputes against the carrier. There are
also several clauses to provide protection and also to overthrow the
current legal process which has been recognised by law under the Trade
Union Act and Industrial Relations Act,” the union said in a statement.
It added that the proposed act also contains clauses to fend off any
claims third-parties may make in the future against the airline, which
was twice hit by two major aviation disasters this year that plunged it
further into the red.
The MAS Act proposes that a new entity called Malaysia Airlines Berhad be set up to replace Malaysian Airline System Berhad.
Its draft also suggests special laws for the administration of the
airlines and all subsidiaries in addition to stricter rules regulating
airline unions.
Nufam demanded state wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad, which has
nearly 70 per cent stake in MAS, to provide the union a copy of the
draft Act before it is debated further in Parliament.
The union warned that if Parliament endorses the proposed law, it would be against current industrial trade practices.
While tabling the Act, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department
Datuk Abdul Wahid Omar told Parliament yesterday that all matters to be
discussed and negotiated between Malaysia Airlines Berhad and unions
will be by way of meetings.
The proposed bill also stated that resourcing and allocation of
resources, assessment of employees, leave entitlement, working hours and
scheduling of work, including flight time limitation and flight duty
periods will be determined by the new entity.
Apart from Nufam, other unions representing MAS workers are the
Malaysia Airlines System Employees Union (Maseu), Malaysia Airlines
Employees Union Peninsular Malaysia, and the Malaysia Airlines Pilot
Association.
The proposal follows Khazanah’s plans to straighten out the ailing
carrier by trimming the labour force of some 20,000 workers to just
14,000, according to the plan rolled out on August 29 this year.
The national carrier was delisted in August after sovereign wealth fund
Khazanah Nasional Bhd offered to buy out its minority share for a total
of RM1.38 billion to restructure MAS, which suffered two disasters this
year.
The total takeover is to cost state-owned firm Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the majority-shareholder in the airline, RM6 billion.
The sovereign wealth fund later unveiled a 12-point turnaround plan for
the national carrier, titled “Rebuilding A National Icon — The MAS
Recovery Plan”, which includes transferring all MAS assets to a new
entity tentatively known as “MAS Baru” or “new MAS”.
Flight MH17 was shot down in Ukraine in July, four months after flight
MH370, en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur vanished mid-air in March.
The latter has yet to be found.
However, even before the mysterious disappearance, the carrier had racked up RM4.13 billion in losses over three years. - Malay Mail, 27/11/2014, Airline crew union cries foul against proposed MAS Act
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