The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) today maintained that it did not have an official meeting with the human resources minister on Monday over the current dispute between banks and their unionised staff.

Confirming a report in the New Straits Times today, it refuted minister Dr Fong Chan Onn's statement on Wednesday that he had met with representatives from both sides over the ongoing dispute.

Fong reportedly took the presence of MTUC deputy president Mohd Shafie BP Mammal to be that of the congress.

Mohd Shafie however clarified that since the meeting was held at a very short notice, he could not assemble a team of officials from MTUC on time, not knowing the agenda at that.

"The meeting lasted for less than five minutes at the Socso office, Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur. It was more of a courtesy call," he clarified in a press statement today.

Mohd Sahfie said he discussed two issues with the minister on the Malaysian Commercial Banks Association's (MCBA) decision to terminate the monthly subscription facilities for members of the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) and NUBE's internal problems.

Nationwide picket

Meanwhile, MTUC secretary-general S Rajasekaran who said he had spoken to Mohd Shafie on the matter, also maintained that it was just a "little chat" between the MTUC official and the minister.

"There was no other party involved. It was not a meeting between (the ministry), the union and the employers," he said.

Asked if the ministry had arranged for a new meeting with MTUC, Rajasekaran said there was still no response to the two letters sent since Oct 15 requesting for a tripartite meeting.

He added that MTUC had also written to MCBA on Oct 15 calling for a meeting to restore the union subscription facilities but this, too, has been met with silence.

MTUC announced earlier that 30,000 bank employees would hold a nationwide picket to protest against the banks' decision.

This was because the staff who have paid their union subscription fees all this while through a salary reduction facility in the bank would lose their membership rights if they fail to settle their dues in three months time.

Asked if it is possible for the members to pay directly to the union, Rajasekaran said they could, but it would be cumbersome for the union to collect monthly payments from 30,000 members nationwide.

No reason

Rajasekaran also said NUBE's internal dispute has nothing to do with MCBA and thus there was no reason for the banks to terminate the union subscription facilities of their employees.

Although NUBE is torn by a factional power struggle, Rajasekaran stressed that the subscription is for the union as a whole and not any warring factions within it.

"Even if a government is under dispute, the people will still be paying taxes," he cited as example.