The union said the bank, which it did not name, had imposed strict restrictions that make it hard for its Malaysian staff to work.

Nube general-secretary J. Solomon said if the bank was not checked, many people were likely to lose their jobs.

“The UK-based bank is committing this vile act while the Covid-19 pandemic is raging and workers are desperately trying to cling on to their jobs and livelihoods to fend for their families.

“The bank’s actions, if unchecked by the authorities, could see scores of employees, mostly those holding clerical and teller positions, retrenched in the coming months,” Solomon said in a statement.

Solomon said Nube has filed 12 cases of its members being arbitrarily redeployed as a result of the outsourcing manoeuvres, which would most affect workers in the B40 and M40 groups.

“Nube members in this bank have learnt that the bank has outsourced various jobs held by Malaysians to external parties in the country as well as countries such as India and Sri Lanka in a bid to cut their operating costs and maximise profits.

“The multi-national bank has fully exploited the absence of any legislation to protect the interest of employees when outsourcing is carried out in the private sector,” Solomon said.

He added that in the absence of such legislation, the union has been urging the bank to at least adhere to the loose guidelines on outsourcing issued by Bank Negara in 2019.

“Our pleas have been completely ignored.  The guidelines are non-binding and this fact has been impressed upon us by the bank’s senior management.

“As a result, the bank’s overzealousness in outsourcing jobs held by Malaysians will lead to low wage employees in this bank being out of jobs in a matter of months, unless the Finance Ministry, Bank Negara Malaysia and the Ministry of Human Resources intervene.”

He also said the bank has used the conditional movement control order and the work from home policy to its advantage in carrying out the outsourcing exercise.

“Local workers are being asked to remain at home on ‘standby’ as their tasks at their workplace are taken over by supervisors and senior management personnel, in the process of outsourcing.

“This is done with the implicit aim of declaring that the bank is able to work with fewer staff, giving the bank grounds to carry out a retrenchment exercise. 

“The jobs of these retrenched workers are then contracted out to the external entities.”

He said the union had asked the Malaysian Commercial Banks Association (MCBA) to mediate.

“Sadly, the bank refused to attend the meeting called by MCBA. This left Nube with no choice but to declare a trade dispute against the bank, in accordance with the Industrial Relations Act. 

“This declaration will enable Nube to take all and whatever action necessary to protect the jobs of our members as they have nowhere else to turn if they become victims of the bank’s inhumane outsourcing exercise.”

Solomon urged Bank Negara and the Human Resources and Finance Ministries to launch an investigation into the complaints. – November 21, 2020.