The northern chapter of the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) is seeking the help of Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to look into the plight of two of its senior members who were “unfairly” dismissed by Maybank recently.

The duo - NUBE honorary treasurer Chen Ka Fatt and vice-president Abdul Jamil Jalaludeen - were dismissed on Jan 31, for holding a banner with words “Maybank robs poor Malaysian workers” outside the United Nations building in Geneva.

According to NUBE, the leaders were merely carrying out their union duties and it is against the law to dismiss them for the act.

NONE NUBE (northern) general secretary Chee Yeeh Ceeu said his team would be meeting with Lim’s political secretary and Komtar assemblyperson Ng Wei Aik today to fix an appointment to meet with the chief minister.

Chee told Malaysiakini this yesterday after a report was lodged at the Beach Street police station against three top executives of Maybank Berhad - chief executive officer Abdul Wahid Omar, head of group human capital Nora Abd Manaf and head of industrial relations Looi Heong Meng.

Chee was accompanied by 10 other members, including Abdul Jamil.

Since Friday, NUBE members have lodged a total of 16 police reports nationwide.

“There will be more coming. We will continue to picket until these two union leaders are reinstated to their jobs,” Chee told reporters.

“The sacking is unreasonable as they are not involved in any fraud or misconduct,” he added.

Maybank sacking baffles unionists

Abdul Jamil said the sacking was unlawful, and condemned the manner in which Maybank had allegedly suppressed the union.

“They try to portray pickets as something illegal and it shows that union busting do happen in this country, so what is our future?

NONE “Under the law in this nation, union leaders have immunity when carrying out their obligations, so this is a cruel action against us and have to be stopped immediately,” he added.

Abdul Jamil said the sacking is the 17th case in the union’s history.

However, the unionists are baffled why the bank had acted against the duo when they had been carrying the same banner at several events.

“Why were we only disallowed to carry the banner in front of the United Nations building in Geneva?” he queried.

NUBE and Maybank started bickering since 2009 when the union alleged that the bank was supporting an in-house union to avoid an 80-month bonus claim.

abdul wahid omar Abdul Wahid ( left ) had then told the media that the bank “respected” the right of employees to participate either in an in-house union or an industry union.

Meanwhile, in his police report, NUBE member Mohamad Faizal Idris said that the Maybank trio had committed an offence under Section 59 (1) (d) and (e) of the 1967 Industrial Relations Act, which carries a one year prison term, or fine not exceeding RM2,000 or both, if found guilty.

The offence involves dismissing a workman or (threatening to) injure him in his employment or (threatening to) alter his position while he is a member of a trade union seeking to improve working conditions.

It is considered an offence to dismiss a workman if he is a member of a trade union, which is a party to negotiations or a trade dispute which has been reported to the director general.

“They have also violated Section 39 (a) of the 1967 Industrial Relations Act for using violence and intimidation, where upon conviction, they could be either jailed not more than a year or fined not more than RM1,000 or both,” said Mohamad Faizal.

“I pray that the police will take the necessary action against the three of them,” he added.