Employer asking UNION President to apologize 90 days for picketing if he wants job back?

Workers and Trade Unions have been repeatedly treated with disrespect by employers. For the exercise of worker rights and legitimate union activities, worker/union leaders and members have been terminated...

For picketing - workers being terminated

For issuing media statement as president of union - terminated cause 'employee cannot issue media statement'...

....see also :-

47 Groups :- WORKER AND TRADE UNION RIGHTS MUST BE PRIORITIZED FOR THE WELLBEING OF THE WORKER AND THEIR FAMILIES

In the case of RUM, they were all allegedly terminated because of their participation in a PICKET - well, this is a legitimate actvity for a union, its members and workers...

Well, workers who have been wrongfully dismissed can lodge a complaint with the Industrial Relations Department(IRD), 

- who then will call both employer and 'dismissed worker' for an attempt at conciliation... (If this fails, then the matter is referred to the Minister, who decides whether to refer the case to the Industrial Court or NOT - about 30% never get referred to the Industrial Court)

- when it comes to the Industrial Court - there too they may try mediation - and if that fails, the case goes on

- Any party dissatisfied with the decision of the Industrial Court can apply to the High Court for a Judicial Review

- REMEDY - well at the end of the day, more likely than not when the court finds that the employer has wrongfully dismissed the worker, they may not order 'REINSTATEMENT' - back to work... , and they may order what is called 'COMPENSATION IN LIEU OF REINSTATEMENT' - well it used to be you get paid your wages (+) from the date of wrongful dismissal until the date of judgement.... but then Malaysian government amended the law, and made the maximum entitlement 24 month (and further there many minus this and that)...

And this entire process can take years and years....even up to 10 years...workers suffer, and business as usual for the employer...

This fact does not DETER employers from wrongfully dismissing workers - especially worker leaders.... some would say it encourages them... 

So employers have TOO MUCH POWER....and that is why we have situations that many a dismissed workers are willing to apologize, abandon union positions, take pay cuts, etc.... 

Hence, this alleged demand that the Union president 'apologise for 90 continuous days if he wanted his job back..'

and this needs to change....

What will UNIONs and Workers do? Just continue lodging complaints with the government ...well, some of the employers who have taken action against worker and union members for legitimate union activities are government linked or owned? 

What will the UNIONs and Workers do? ....

 

 MTUC raps bully KTMB's 'sorry x 90'

 

The Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) is vexed at Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) for its repeated attempts to humiliate and bully unionists.

MTUC secretary-general N Gopal Kishnam said KTMB president Elias Kadir's (right in photo) demand that Railwaymen's Union of Malaya president Abdul Razak Md Hassan apologise for 90 continuous days if he wanted his job back is the latest round of bullying.
"They are bullying (the union)... being a union leader, Razak has his obligation but Elias is punishing him," Gopal told Malaysiakini when contacted.
Razak and more than 90 KTMB employees were sacked for participating in a picket against Elias.
They were picketing over what they said were weak leadership by Elias.
Gopal also revealed that prior to this, there was also another attempt to humiliate KTMB workers who were reinstated after being sacked for picketing against Elias.
"When KTMB reinstated the workers, they deliberately held an amnesty ceremony.
"But at that point of time, we did not make it an issue as we only wanted the workers to get their jobs back," he said.
Gopal said the incident happened sometime in September last year.
"They are humiliating the workers and now the president wants 90 consecutive apologies to further humiliate the union," he said.
He said the demand was "shocking" and "difficult to absorb".
Gopal stressed that MTUC will stand by Razak (right) and is seeking the government's intervention.
"I am going to write to the human resources minister tomorrow as well as to the prime minister who is also finance minister as KTMB is a government-linked company," he said.
He added that it was unbecoming of a government linked company to treat union leaders as such.
Malaysiakini could not contact Elias for comment despite numerous attempts. - Malaysiakini, 4/2/2015, MTUC raps bully KTMB's 'sorry x 90'