Thursday, June 16, 2011
'MTUC has never been anti-government' - Malaysiakini
Malaysiakini
Jiwi Kathaiah
Jun 15, 11
9:50am
The country's national trade union centre, the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC), has always been suspected of, as well as accused of, being anti-government by those in power and the coalition parties in the ruling front.
And they harp at every opportunity that MTUC should be politically neutral.
This charge that MTUC is anti-government emerged again, with greater vigour, from those challenging the incumbent leaders in the MTUC elections held in December last year.
The team led by Timber Employees Union leader Mohd Khalid Atan defeated the incumbent president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud, who was accused of being an active member of PKR, and captured the leadership.
Khalid campaigned on grounds to "unite the (trade union) movement, change the perception of MTUC as being anti-government and to be politically neutral".
He and his running mates in the election capitalised on the alleged "perception" that MTUC was anti-government, a perception that was assiduously promoted by employers, leaders of the BN coalition parties and even by some of the pro-BN trade union leaders.
During the Hulu Selangor by-election MIC deputy president and Human Resources Minister Dr S Subramaniam accused MTUC of having lost its "neutrality".
Never anti-government
It is now almost six months since the new MTUC leadership assumed office. What do the new leaders think of MTUC being anti-government?
With the elections over, the new secretary-general Abdul Halim Mansor, an important member of Khalid's team seemed to draw a distinction between the involvement of MTUC as an organisation of workers and its leaders as individuals in politics.
"MTUC has never ever been anti-government," Halim told Malaysiakini in a recent interview, and dismissed as wrong accusations that the federation is politically aligned.
"MTUC has never ever aligned with any political party. Zainal Rampak's (a former MTUC president) decision to join Umno was not MTUC's decision. It has been so all the time, notwithstanding the fact that individuals had joined political parties. The accusation is not correct."
Swimming with the current
Stressing the reasons for MTUC being apolitical, Halim said past leaderships had been trying hard to achieve the objectives of trade union struggles but "we found it a bit hard to reach the destination".
"We believe we have struggled very hard on many platforms. We used to campaign for the opposition. We worked with Syed Sharir in order to oust Zainal Rampak because Zainal had joined the BN. Syed was not in politics then. Now, he is a politician."
Believing that the struggles carried out all these years for the success of the workers' cause have not produced the results expected, Halim has come to the conclusion that it is better to swim with the current.
He said, "As the Malays say 'don't go against the current', we go non-political.
"What we mean by non-political is that we do not want to be directly engaged with any political party, whether it is the government party or the opposition.
"We are on different platforms. We do not want to say we are partners because we have lost confidence. It does not mean we work only with the government, no.
"I have said before that we are prepared to work with the government or anybody else to make sure we succeed in championing the cause of the workers."
Conceding that politics is part of every human activity, Halim added, "Even when you tackle your boyfriend or girlfriend, there is politics."
The formation of MTUC and the selection of its first leader itself was the result of a political decision. Both colonial Malaya and the independent Malayan/Malaysian governments had made sure that MTUC remained pro-government.
So, why should MTUC now declare itself to be politically neutral?
In 2008, Halim said, MTUC held a series of pickets and demonstrations in support of its struggles. At the end of the day, it was monopolised by the opposition and it appeared to be anti-government.
"I still believe in political neutrality. People say we are anti-government. We are not. Why are we now saying we are politically neutral?
"If we don't say it now, they will later say Khalid (MTUC president) is linked to BN," Halim added, justifying his preference for political neutrality.
However, he conceded that the authority to determine MTUC's political role rested with its general council and the delegates' conference.
"We don't even have the right to question any individual's right to be involved in politics. But the general council is the deciding authority to decide if the movement should take a political leaning."
Minimum wage: A sad story
Halim said MTUC had during the last 12 years submitted so many memoranda and staged public programmes in support of its claim for a minimum wage, but the government never responded seriously.
After the 2008 general election and even after the MTUC election, he said, Umno Youth approached the movement to find out what its minimum wage demand was about.
"It is a sad story that only after 12 years have passed did the Umno/BN Youth want to know about our minimum wage claim!
"Their move was initiated by the Umno labour bureau and then picked up by Umno Youth and widened into a BN Youth representation on this matter," Halim said.
After briefing the BN Youth as to what minimum wage was all about, a meeting with the deputy prime minister was held. This matter had been discussed with various departments and a decision was taken to set up a national wage council, Halim said.
A bill to set up the wage council was to have been tabled at the current sitting of Parliament but the information from some of the MPS was that there was no such matter in the order papers.
Dinner with PM
Perhaps, making a move again to swim with the current and to demonstrate that MTUC has never been anti-government, nor did it ever align with any particular political party, the federation hosted a dinner for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak at Grand Dorsett Subang Jaya last night.
Some 600 trade unionists and other guests attended.
Deputy president Mohd Jaffar Majid said MTUC had no clue as to what the prime minister would say in his speech at the dinner, but he is hopeful that Najib will make some important announcements, especially on the minimum wage.
Almost all the country's prime ministers - except for Dr Mahathir Mohamad who regarded trade unionists as untouchables and Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who had no time for trade unions - have attended MTUC dinners and made promises, none of which were fulfilled.
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KEPUTUSAN PEMILIHAN MTUC 2010
ReplyDeleteYahooo!!!!!!!! si bedebah Jaafar Majid menang jawatan tim. presiden MTUC….
mari kita kaji mcm mana si anjing ni boleh menang:
1. Anjing ini menggunakan tiket PKR yang kononya sekutu kuat Syed Shahir pada peringkat awalnya.
2. Anjing ini kemudianya pada saat2 akhir menukar kem kepada UMNO dan mengutuk Syed Shahir dengan HEBAT sekali, diantaranya anjing ini mengatakan bahawa Syed Shahir adalah Petualang besar didalam MTUC dan mesti disingkirkan dan Syed Shahir menggunakan dana MTUC untuk PKR.
3. Anjing ini memberitahu ahli2 MTUC yang mana dia kononya mendapat restu dari orang2 kuat didalam MTUC…. pukimak punya anjing….
4. Anjing ini telah menggunakan DUIT yang amat banyak sekali dengan “membeli” undi dari ahli2 didalam MTUC, sebagai contoh yang sahih, anjing ini telah sponsor mereka untuk tinggal di Armada Hotell Petaling Jaya, RM 500 sebagai duit shopping dll….
ikuti penemuan xklusif dari kami untuk tatapan anda semua..
dulu HEBOH satu Malaysia, MTUC dibawah jajahan PKR...... sekarang ini macam mana pula, hari-hari MTUC dengan UMNO......
ReplyDeletesemuanya sama saja, POLITIK KOTOR, yang dibawa oleh pemimpin MTUC yang baru....
Nak tahu cerita yang lebih menarik….
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Yahooo!!!!!!!! si bedebah Jaafar Majid menang jawatan tim. presiden MTUC....
ReplyDeletemari kita kaji mcm mana si anjing ni boleh menang:
1. Anjing ini menggunakan tiket PKR yang kononya sekutu kuat Syed Shahir pada peringkat awalnya.
2. Anjing ini kemudianya pada saat2 akhir menukar kem kepada UMNO dan mengutuk Syed Shahir dengan HEBAT sekali, diantaranya anjing ini mengatakan bahawa Syed Shahir adalah Petualang besar didalam MTUC dan mesti disingkirkan dan Syed Shahir menggunakan dana MTUC untuk PKR.
3. Anjing ini memberitahu ahli2 MTUC yang mana dia kononya mendapat restu dari orang2 kuat didalam MTUC.... pukimak punya anjing....
4. Anjing ini telah menggunakan DUIT yang amat banyak sekali dengan "membeli" undi dari ahli2 didalam MTUC, sebagai contoh yang sahih, anjing ini telah sponsor mereka untuk tinggal di Armada Hotell Petaling Jaya, RM 500 sebagai duit shopping dll....
ikuti penemuan xklusif dari kami untuk tatapan anda semua..
BABI JAAFAR MAJID NIE SKRANG NIE, SELALU UGUT AHLI2 NUTE, KALAU XNAK DENGAR CAKAP, DIA AKAN REPORT KAT KHALIS!!! SIAP BGTAU LG YG KHALIS NIE KAWAN BAIK DIA,,,,,,, BABI PUNYE ORG...
ReplyDeleteKHALIS N JAAFAR ANJING KURAP YG PERLU DI BUANG KE LAUT,,,, KHALIS NIE ABG AKU KENAL SGT MASA KAT TEMPAT DIE, MMG KAKI BETINA,, BODOH PUNYE TM PEGI AMBIL BINATANG NIE UNTUK JAHANAMKAN TM...... MMG DUA2 BINATANG NIE KAKI BETINA N KARAOKE,,,
CUBA KAU ORG PEGI CHECK, COMPANY MANA YG SKRANG NIE SUPPLY STATIONARY KAT TM,, TU SEMUA KRONI KHALIS,,, NAMAPUN MACAM ANJING KURAP, NAMA AJE HEAD HR TM, TP LANGSUNG X IKUT BUKU ETIKA, RAMBUT BLH PLAK COLOUR,,,, BABI MEMANG BABI
hehehehehehehhehehehehehehehehheheehheheheehheeh.. yer ker .. Ingat orang NUTE nie tak percaya ngan bomoh... ada jugak yer.. kahahahahahahahhahahahhahah.. eeeee malu la... kta pemimpin2 baru NUTE ne hebat2,telus,ikhlas..dlm perjuangan & siap muka macam IMAM, rupanya bertopengkan SYAITAN apa barang pakai bomoh....baik mintak khalid samad holy water kompem jadi PRESIDENT NUTE terus........hahaha
ReplyDeleteJAAFAR MAJID KINI BERTUKAR MENJADI PROXY PEMUDA UMNO....JAAFAR MAJID 'BUNUH' RAMAI PEMIMPIN KESATUAN TELEKOM YANG MENENTANGNNYA...ADA YANG SAMPAI DIBUANG KERJA DI KK...INILAH JAAFAR MAJID YANG KAKI BETINA, KAKI AMPU SANA MAPU SINI...JAAFAR MAJID KUAT PAKAI BOMOH! SAMPAI PM PUN DATANG MAKAN MALAM MTUC...PEKERJA MELOPONG MAKAN ASAP...RAMAI PEMIMPIN MTUC BERMUKA-MUKA SOKONG PEKERJA...TAPI AMBIL DUIT DARI KERAJAAN...MAMPUS PEKERJA MACAM INI!
ReplyDeleteaku ade artikel pasal kes ini,,, dalam MTUC ini semua pandai belakon je lebih,,, 3 @ 4 bulan lepas, MTUC terima RM 400,000.00 dari kerajaan BN melalui Biro Pemuda dan majlis itu diadakan secara tertutup...
ReplyDeleteso sekarang dah belakon pulak, nak menentang kerajaan!!!! macam cerita TAMIL lah pulak,, kalu nak kata berpuak-puak didalam MTUC memang 99% benar, kau bayangkan,,, dalam Jawatankuasa Tertingi MTUC kini sedang sibuk untuk "melobi" diri sendiri untuk pelbagai Jawatan "Ahli Lembaga Pengarah" didalam syarikat Kerajaan, dan berita yang kini hangat diperkatakan adalah Seorang pemimpin tertinggi MTUC "no 2" sedang melobi kerajaan untuk jawatan SENATOR....
Jadi kelebihan pemimpin di MTUC ini sekarang adalah JAWATAN @ PANGKAT dan bukannya KEBAJIKAN