A National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) Kuala Lumpur branch official today lodged a police report against three security guards employed by a Public Bank branch, claiming they had molested her.

When contacted immediately after lodging the report, the 35-year-old official said the incident occurred when she was trying to enter the bank after the ongoing lunch-hour picket ended at 2.30pm.

"The bank closed all its doors during the picket. As a branch official, I tried to find an alternative way for our members who are staff at the bank to get in and continue their work," she said in a telephone interview after lodging the report at the Dang Wangi police station in Jalan Campbell.

A police spokesperson at the station confirmed the report which also named the three security guards.

Relating the incident, the union official said she was approaching the entrance to the bank's basement car park when three men in blue uniform blocked her way.

"One of the men grabbed my arm. When I threatened to lodge a police report, they told me to go ahead and do it.

Stonewalled

"The man who was holding my arm also tried to touch my breast but I managed to deflect his hand and immediately ran out."

When she kept on asking why they were blocking her way, one of them told her that she was talking to a wall.

"I will also lodge a sexual harassment complaint over this incident as I don't want my female colleagues at the bank to risk similar treatment.

"I feel very angry and embarrassed over such crude behaviour. I feel violated," said the union official.

Attempts to contact the bank for comment today proved futile.

NUBE general secretary J Solomon, when contacted, said such an incident had never happened before.

"Although there have been instances of security guards showing strong-arm tactics, we never expected them to go this far."

Legal recourse

He said the union will seek legal advice on the molest incident and lodge a sexual harassment complaint with the Human Resources Ministry.

Solomon said the union has also notified the Malaysian Trades Union Congress of the incident and is awaiting further advice.

The ongoing picket by NUBE members is in protest against the revocation by banks of the check-off facility for automatic monthly deductions of union subscription. The picket ends tomorrow for the Hari Raya break.

The union began picketing after the Malayan Commercial Banks Association (MCBA) refused to heed Human Resources Minister Dr Fong Chan Onn's advice to resume the check-off which was scrapped about two months ago.

The MCBA represents nine banks Alliance Bank, Maybank, Bumiputra-Commerce Bank, Hong Leong Bank, Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, Affin Bank, Public Bank, RHB Bank and Standard Chartered.

The association cited the union's leadership tussle for scrapping the check-off and that it did not want to get involved in any legal entanglement, preferring instead to wait for the internal problem to be resolved before resuming the automatic deductions.

The NUBE currently has about 27,000 members.