THE National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) today slammed the government and a multinational company for their failure to look into the death of a project manager in Ipoh who had lost his job.

The 52 year-old man, known only as Kathir, was fired in September. That led him to drive his Honda Civic into the factory where he worked, and to set the building on fire with what was believed to be a Molotov cocktail, on November 6.

He was run over by a trailer and killed an hour later.

A video of the man detailing the emotional trauma he endured at work has gone viral.

NUBE secretary-general J. Solomon said the man’s anguish underscores the suffering of many Malaysian employees at the hands of multinational companies, which warranted an investigation by the authorities

“Otherwise there will be many Kathir-like cases, especially due to the Covid-10 pandemic, which some companies blatantly use as an excuse to arbitrarily terminate workers without justification or compensation for the sake of the bottomline,” Solomon said in a statement.

Solomon said the death should compel Putrajaya to launch a thorough probe into on the treatment of Malaysian workers by multinational companies in all sectors, including banking.

He said Kathir’s employer had refused to shed any light on the events that led to his death so that there was little information on what had gone so badly wrong for the worker.

“Even more frustrating… is the Human Resources Ministry’s indifference. There has not been any announcement by the state labour department or Putrajaya that a transparent probe will be conducted into the events which contributed to the tragic death,” he said

He said the bank union was concerned over the unfair and discriminatory policies of certain MNC banks that have resulted in employees in the B40 and M40 categories being displaced, losing their jobs or prevented from career advancement.  

Solomon said such policies were also designed as union busting tactics to discourage employees from joining unions.
 
“Over the years, we have seen a growing number of workers suffer various levels of mental stress and emotional breakdown due to varying forms of persecution by the management of certain banks.”

He said there were “undoubtedly there are certain multinational banks as well as Malaysian-owned ones” which were ill treating “their lower cadre workers and mid-level officers”.

Meanwhile, he said employees who were active in NUBE were targeted and left out in promotion exercises or were terminated as a warning to others to stay away from union activism.

“Such actions by certain banks have been rampant since mid-2018 right under the noses of Bank Negara, the Finance Ministry and the Human Resources Ministry without any action or investigation whatsoever.

“NUBE has first-hand experience of the lackadaisical attitude of the former finance minister and human resources minister when they deliberately avoided addressing the issue of workers’ exploitation.”

He said this was despite the numerous complaints lodged against the bank.

On top of this, he said Bank Negara had introduced policies for banks to outsource work to locals and foreign entities.

He said the  central bank’s action was not only dismissive of the workers’ interest but the collective agreements which was recognised by the industrial court.

This has led to many B40 and M40 workers becoming jobless.

“The persecution of local employees by some MNCs, including certain MNC banks, is executed by overzealous Malaysians hired into senior positions in the human resources department. This is merely to shield the MNC’s from being accused of being biased against the local workforce.

“The reality is that these MNCs are devoid of compassion and bent on doing things their way, they do not tolerate dissent from workers and their unions, no matter how justifiable the complaints are.

“The government should not allow MNCs to exploit Malaysian workers and siphon off the wealth of the nation. The government agencies which are supposed to prevent exploitation of Malaysian workers and ensure protective legislation, policies and guidelines in place have failed miserably.”

The government must exert political will to investigate Kathir’s allegations against his employer as the case was an example of the injustice and persecution faced by thousands of MNC employees in Malaysia, he said. – November 10, 2020. 

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