THE crisis threatening to de-register the nation’s largest private sector trade union group, the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC), began in 2016 after its current leadership took over.

It is also related to the Pakatan Harapan administration’s move to amend two labour laws, which have divided local unionists and labour activists, including the MTUC.

De-registration of the MTUC would rob close to 500,000 workers of a collective voice that has consistently spoken on behalf of their welfare, wages and working conditions.

The MTUC also provides critical legal representation to workers involved in disputes with their employers.

After an investigation by the Registrar of Societies (RoS) on December 20, it issued a letter suspending MTUC operations for 30 days, during which it must meet the RoS.

MTUC secretary-general J. Solomon said the group will do so on December 26 to explain why it did not hold enough general council meetings and respond to other allegations of mismanagement.

“We have our own valid reasons,” said Solomon on the veracity of the RoS’s accusations, but declined to disclose those reasons.

However, it is understood that some of the concerns are over legitimacy of the affiliate unions under it.

A brief explainer of the crisis is as follows:

1) What is a general council meeting and why is it important?

The general council is MTUC’s highest decision-making body. It is made up of MTUC’s current 220-member unions, called affiliates.

These affiliate unions come from all industrial sectors in the economy from manufacturing to services, to plantations.

Each affiliate selects a representative to the MTUC general council.

According to the MTUC constitution, it must hold a general council meeting once every two months.

A former MTUC secretary-general, N. Gopal Kishnan, alleged the current leadership had not convened enough general council meetings in the past 22 months.

Solomon accuses Gopal, who was defeated in the 2016 MTUC elections, of attempting to undermine the currently leadership.

2) What could be the reasons for not holding these general council meetings?

A: In a December 16 statement, Solomon said general council meetings were held consistently until it was discovered that some affiliates had “falsified their membership”.

The case is still pending at the Appeals Court but after consulting its lawyers, the MTUC leadership met and decided to call for general council meeting at the end of December.

3) What has the PH administration got to do with the crisis?

A: A schism formed within the union community over the Human Resources Ministry’s move to amend the Industrial Relations Act and Trade Union Act.

The changes will give greater freedom to workers to form or join unions of their choice, and allow unions to be formed in any company or industry and limit government interference.

The MTUC leadership opposed these changes, alleging they would weaken the union movement as a whole because it would lead to a “multiplicity of unions”.

Ex-MTUC official Gopal alleged the MTUC did not convene general council meetings in order to deliberate these amendments with its affiliates or allow them to decide on the changes.

Gopal alleged MTUC affiliates who disagreed with the group’s stance then formed a separate organisation called the Labour Law Reform Council (LLRC).

The LLRC, which was part of the multi-stakeholder meetings on the labour law changes, had endorsed the amendments.

Gopal said the amendments would increase the number of unions in the country but prevent any one group from having a monopoly over workers.

Human Resources Minster M. Kula Segaran has refuted the MTUC’s accusations that it was trying to dilute workers’ bargaining powers with the amendments.

Kula Segaran said the ministry is open to helping the MTUC to reason with the RoS. – December 24, 2019.