Human Resources Minister Dr Fong Chan Onn revealed today he has devised a "special formula" which could resolve the ongoing dispute between banks and the National Union of Bank Employees NUBE).

"I'm confident it would be acceptable to all sides. I don't want to see this issue escalated," said the minister at a press conference in Petaling Jaya.

He added that the formula has been conveyed to the Malayan Commercial Banks Association (MCBA) and the union.

Fong stressed that the two rival factions in NUBE must come together while the banks must respect the structure of the union in order to resolve the problem.

However, when asked to reveal details of his 'special formula', the minister remained tightlipped and explained that he was waiting for both parties to respond first.

Not foolproof

He also conceded that his 'special formula' was not foolproof and if it was rejected, he would be forced to think of a new one.

The 28,000-strong NUBE has accused the banks of carrying out a union-busting exercise when they decided to stop providing the check-off facility for their employees to pay their monthly union subscription since October.

Employees will lose their membership if they fail to pay their union fees for three consecutive months.

However, MCBA which represents nine major banks clarified later that it scrapped the facility to avoid any legal entanglement from the power struggle in the union.

One of the rival factions is led by NUBE's current general secretary J Solomon while the other is helmed by a former office bearer, Muhammad Fauzi Shamsuddin.

The banks said it would wait for the problem to be resolved before resuming the facility.

Banks employees have been staging pickets over the past two weeks to protest the decision.

Sexual harassment

In a related matter, Fong said he has yet to receive any sexual harassment complaint from a union leader who claimed that three security guards at a bank in Kuala Lumpur had allegedly tried to molest her.

The 35-year-old woman claimed the incident happened when the security personnel confronted her as she tried to enter the bank from the basement car park after being locked out of the building for participating in a lunch time picket.

She subsequently lodged a police report.

Fong said the allegation was serious but would leave the matter to the police since a report had been lodged.

However, the minister gave his assurance that his officials will investigate the allegation if a complaint was filed with the ministry.