"Our achievements have been quite unsatisfactory. I myself feel that we've raised the relevant issues but nothing has happened."

This disappointment was expressed by Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) secretary-general G Rajasekaran at the conclusion of the three-year term marked by the Triennial Delegates Conference tomorrow.

"I feel a setback. The approach is wrong. We are only talking without any action plan, and talking seldom works," said the 61-year-old trade union veteran in an interview with malaysiakini recently.

This basic difference in approach of two former allies has led to the current leadership crisis in the largest private sector union umbrella body.

Unlike Rajasekaran who believes that action must follow soon after all else fails, MTUC president Zainal Rampak, who has sat at the helm for 17 years, believes in negotiation and discussion.

"This is where Zainal and I have differ in opinion on how to do things, which has led to a sharp division in the leadership.

"If you look at his line-up, only two of the 17 principal office-bearers are with him. Doesn't that tell you something?" asked Rajasekaran.

Zainal, the Transport Workers Union general secretary, will meet Rajasekaran's Team B candidate Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud, the executive secretary of the National Union of Transport Equipment Allied Industry Workers.

Hard-hitting unionist

Both will meet for the fourth time after a close call for Zainal in 1994 when Syed Shahir won by six votes.

Rajasekaran, the Metal Industry Employees Union executive secretary, is hopeful that 'his man' will deliver the goods, despite having failed in the last three attempts.

"If the delegates return a good team, I hope we can then pass from rhetoric to actual action and set deadlines for issues to be resolved by all parties concerned.

"If negotiations and discussions fail, we have to move on to other methods," stressed Rajasekaran, who is being challenged by MAS Employees Union secretary-general Abdul Malek Ariff.

Rajasekaran has been active in unions since 1963 and has been with the MTUC for more than three decades. He is one of founding members of his current union, MIEU, and has held the posts of executive secretary and general secretary for the union since its inception in 1963 till now.

He was MTUC deputy sec-gen from December 1980 until he became the secretary-general in 1994.

He is also the MTUC representative at Socso Board as well as a member of the Industrial Court workers panel, and the executive boards of ICFTU-APRO (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions-Asian and Pacific Regional Organisation) and ICFTU.

Being the hard-hitting and seasoned unionist that he is, Rajasekaran has frequently been at loggerheads with Zainal, especially after the latter's senatorship in December 1998. He felt that Zainal had sold out on the workers when he accepted the position.

Proven right

His concerns were proven right when Zainal pulled the plug on a case filed with the International Labour Organisation in 1994 by the electronics sector workers on the individual right to form a union.

"Zainal decided to withdraw the matter in 1996 on the persuasion of then Human Resources Minister Lim Ah Lek who promised to discuss it later but never kept his promise to this day.

"To me, this is a wrong move because the matter remains unresolved till today. Since the matter is still pending, we want to take it up with the ILO again," he said, adding that in order for an organisation to be dynamic, action must follow.

"Zainal's problem is he wants everyone around him to follow what he says," he said.

Rajasekaran said Zainal is now trying to create impression that they cannot work together due to disagreements on approaches.

"If delegates are happy with the current situation, then I leave it to them. I've been associated with the MTUC as a General Council member for about 30 years, and there have always been differences in approaches between the president and the secretary-general.

"That is where the checks and balances have existed in the Congress, where the president and the secretary-general have alternated between being hard-hitting and the voice of moderation.

"But now, the so-called voice of moderation' is trying to control everyone, similar to the notion of rambo-ism' which Syed Shahir used to describe Zainal."

In the Triennial Delegates Conference report's introductory address today, Rajasekaran said workers' standard of living has not kept pace with the economic growth of the country and labour legislation on minimum standards has remained stagnant for two decades.

The east Asian financial crisis has also left thousands jobless, among other drastic cost-cutting and down-sizing measures taken by companies, he said.

Backlog

As a result, many cases ended up in the Industrial Court where the backlog continues to increase despite steps taken by the Human Resources Ministry in November 2000 to reduce it.

"The conciliation machinery which forms an essential and integral part of the Malaysian industrial relations system is in need of urgent and serious attention.

"The system has become shockingly ineffective," said Rajasekaran.

Tomorrow's showdown will witness 600 delegates from 112 affiliates converging at the Petaling Jaya Civic Centre to vote in 16 principal MTUC office-bearers for the next three-year term.