Deputy ministership for post-MTUC Zainal?
Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) president Zainal Rampak may be offered a deputy ministers post when he resigns from the union this year, a veteran unionist speculated.
He said this is in line with the gradual absorption of the largest private sector union umbrella body into the government, of which Zainals senatorship was the first step.
Zainal struck a deal with his deputy Mohd Shafie BP Mammal at the eleventh hour pledging to resign and make way for the latter to take over his position on Jan 1, 2003.
Referring to the power-sharing formula sealed between MTUC president Zainal and his deputy Mohd Shafie, the veteran trade unionist said the deal was a sure sign of Zainals desperation.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said it was obvious that Zainals position was very shaky.
That is why Zainal struck the deal with Mohd Shafie, because he is banking on his deputys grassroots support.
I think the governments intention is to slowly move the MTUC under its ambit, and Zainals senatorship was a start, the unionist told malaysiakini , adding that there were very strong undercurrents against Zainal, who has helmed MTUC for 17 years.
Personal attacks
Concerned about where the MTUC was heading, the unionist said the personal attacks between current leaders may leave the membership more confused as to who is actually championing core labour issues which need urgent attention.
He thinks one of the reasons why Zainal entered the pact with Mohd Shafie was to avoid the major embarrassment of losing while holding a senatorship.
Another reason, he feels, is more of a racial sentiment where Zainal was trying to get an all-Malay line-up in the MTUC to fit in with the formula of being a friend of the government.
This also guarantees the government political support from the workers, he added.
Meanwhile, the fierce jostling for the top positions in MTUC has raised a vital question regarding the future direction of the trade union movement in Malaysia.
Former Cuepacs veteran and five-term MTUC secretary-general AH Ponniah believes the government will not absorb the MTUC because affiliates and workers will strongly oppose any attempt to do so.
Ponniah said the private sector unions know the pains of collective bargaining as opposed to the civil service unions like Cuepacs, which is why it will be difficult for the government to try something like that.
Those who bargain with employers on a daily basis know the pains of the labour movement and if anyone decides to cross the line, they will surely be removed. Even if they (pro-government union leaders) succeed, it will only be temporary.
Asked whether he sees Zainal steering the MTUC right into the government ambit, Ponniah said it would not make any difference because other principal office-bearers will ensure that workers rights are protected.
I expect the MTUC to work with the government, but not to become one with it. The fact is, if someone tries to push it into the government, the organisation will split up.
Dont think it can be changed by one or two individuals who have found a new love and new ways of doing things, he said in an interview today.
A good example of resistance by workers, said Ponniah, was the attempt to divert the MTUC into politics back in the 1970s which was successfully thwarted by him and a few others.
Full-time unionists need
He also supported the idea of more full-time unionists who will serve the workers without any obligation to the government or employers.
This reform is very urgent and the government must change ... this is not 1948 anymore. In fact, there is a need to allow smaller unions to consolidate in order to have more muscle when bargaining for workers.
The most powerful social movement is the labour movement, and smaller unions must be made a part and parcel of nation-building, he said.
In the late 1940s, the British government had passed certain laws to prevent its ouster by clandestine communists infiltrating the labour movement at that time.
Ponniah said he had never seen the government asking or telling unionists that it will take over the labour movement.
Zainal went to the government, the government didnt go to him, he said, adding that National Union of Teaching Profession secretary-general N Siva Subramaniam had also behaved the same way as Zainal.
Siva, who is Cuepacs president, reportedly told Ponniah not to interfere in trade union affairs in Malaysia as he was now a paid official in a foreign non-governmental organisation, when pledging support for Zainal in the MTUC elections.
For more news and views that matter, subscribe and support independent media for only RM0.36 sen a day:
Subscribe now