Sunday, August 31, 2014

MAS Retrenchment: MTUC Suggests Government Follows Code Of Conduct For Industrial Harmony


PETALING JAYA, Aug 30 (Bernama) — The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) today suggested that the government follows the code of conduct for industrial harmony when retrenching staff from the troubled national carrier Malaysia Airlines (MAS).
Its president, Khalid Atan said, the 40-year-old code specified the various steps when retrenching staff as it would cause the least disruption and inconvenience to both workers and employers.
It was the duty of the government as a responsible employer to ensure that the workers’ welfare was given top priority in the restructuring of the MAS’ business model, he said.
He was commenting on the plan by Khazanah Nasional Bhd – the government’s business arm – to restructure MAS which would require the shedding of some 6,000 workers.
Khalid told Bernama that the 6,000 employees would easily translate into 30,000 people, based on at least five family members per worker, who would be affected by the restructuring move.
He urged Khazanah to rope in union leaders to assist in the massive exercise and to minimise hardship to the workers and their families. — BERNAMA

MTUC CALLS FOR TRIPARTITE MEETING ON KULAIJAYA STRIKE

Press Released
Malaysia Trades Union Congress (MTUC) calls for an immediate tripartite meeting between employers of JCY HDD Technology Sdn Bhd (JCY), Human Resource Ministry and MTUC on the recent strike by their foreign workers in protest of the companies, negligence in handling of health issues of their workers.
Our MTUC Johor Division officers on the ground have been following the case closely with some of JCY’s migrant workers. Workers shared that their protest escalated when one of the staff of JCY provoked by throwing stones at their private part when the workers refuse to ‘play the game of throwing stones’ at each other in their workplace at Kulaijaya. These workers, about 20 of them who participated in the strike in Tebrau were forcefully moved to Kulaijaya. At Kulaijaya these workers were forced to play a game of “volley ball with stone” as a punishment for taking part in the strike at Tebrau over the death of their co worker who complained of having difficulty in breathing.
According to the workers they resort to industrial action as they were dissatisfied in the manner the management handled their grievances. Their main concerns were on the issues concerning their health, work condition, poor hostel facilities, calculation of overtime, not adhering to off day’s entitlement, various deductions in their salaries and low compensation for accident and injuries. The workers were also displeased with the attitude of the management in that workers are beaten for any mistakes made. They said that the management have constantly not treating them with dignity and respect. Their concerns at workplace worsened over the years that their only option was industrial action.
MTUC is very concern in the way the management of JCY handle the issues of worker’s grievances at workplace. Management’s intimidation and hostile attitudes towards worker is totally unacceptable. These fundamental issues have been put off so long that workers have lost total confidence with the management of JCY. Our national policy and practices on protection of Migrant workers too have failed to address significantly the rights of migrant workers.
Human Recourse Ministry have repeatedly denied our call for Migrant workers to be given SOSCO benefit just as Malaysia workers instead migrant workers are covered by Workmen Compensation Scheme with computation of compensation differs extensively. There is justification no why dual set of computation of compensation is need for Malaysian and Migrant workers.
At the same time MTUC is concern on the over dependency of Migrant workers in JCY. It has been noted that about 95% of foreign workers employed by JCY are production workers. JCY’s depends on more than 10,000 migrant workers mainly from Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and Vietnam. These only raises concerns that wage distribution and condition of employment offered have been inadequately address that prompt many Malaysian in Johor to work in Singapore instead.
MTUC also urge that police investigation should look into the provocation and alleged assault made by the management over the incident in Kulaijaya. Police investigation must be fair and unbiased towards all parties involved.
Meanwhile MTUC Johor Division will offer our services to all migrant workers especially workers who are affected in the incident in Kulaijaya and Tebrau. Migrant workers can call our hotline number at 016-2118024 should they need any assistance or inquiries.
Thank You.
Sincerely,
N. Gopal Kishnam,
Secretary General

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Malaysia is opening all sectors to Bangladeshi workers

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Turkish workers still awaiting justice while union busting continues

The explosion at the Soma coal mine in May of this year that killed 301 workers, highlighted the conditions that many Turkish workers find themselves in. The fight for compensation and justice is an ongoing battle that is being pursued by surviving workers and other unionists. In an ongoing dispute, workers that were dismissed for joining a union at the pharmaceutical company Deva Holding, are continuing with their struggle and receiving international support. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case in Turkey.
source:::http://aawl.org.au

Thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers in tough battle to regain wages

As reported last week, the dispute over unpaid wages for workers employed by the Tuba group of companies has entered its second week. Workers are continuing their hunger strike and actions amid continual harassment and repression by police and goons and the arrests of some of the labour organisers involved in the dispute. The workers seem to have won some of their demands over unpaid wages, but many other claims remain not settled. A solidarity rally was held last Friday in Melbourne, Australia.
source:::http://aawl.org.au

Lack of maintenance leads to deadly oil pipeline explosion in Taiwan

Last week, in a dramatic sequence of events, oil pipelines under suburban streets of the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung exploded, see video. The blasts killed 28 people and injured another 300. The pipeline was owned by a local petrochemical firm, LCY Chemical. Initial investigations have already confirmed that the company never carried out safety inspection works and did not initiate any safety measures when they noticed that the gas pressures inside the pipeline were dropping, indicating a major leak. The company’s total disregard for the health and safety of its workers and their families is another indication of company’s relentless drive of profits over workers lives.
source:::http://aawl.org.au

Israel’s military assault on Palestinians in Gaza continues

This week, a three day ceasefire took place that allowed Palestinians to find and bury their dead while also managing to restock on basic essentials. While much of Gaza has been damaged, and almost 2,000 Palestinians killed, the underlying issues behind this conflict are still unresolved. Thus, Palestinians are still resisting against the continued military assault of the Israeli army. Demonstrations in solidarity with the Palestinians continue around the world, such as LondonCape Town, and Tel Aviv among many other cities and countries. Click on the links for more information and updates.
 
Stop the bombardment
Lift the siege and blockade of Gaza
Free all Palestinian prisoners

source:::http://aawl.org.au

Tens of Chinese workers murdered in workshop explosion

At the start of this month, an explosion at the automotive parts factory Zhongrong Plating in the industrial city of Kunshan, Jiangsu province, killed at least 75 workers and injured another 200 workers. The explosion was caused by the airborne dust in the factory which was ignited by sparks from the machines in use. This explosion indicates that dust levels in the air were at extreme levels. Apart from sudden explosions, dust is the main contributor to the lung disease pneumoconiosis, a disease that already affects over 6 million Chinese workers. Tragedies like this once again highlight the desperate need for genuine, independent unions in China.
source:::http://aawl.org.au