The internal crisis in the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) may have taken an early toll on six HSBC staff in Sabah who have been recently slapped with transfer letters to the peninsula out of the blue.

The six one of them a pregnant woman and others with school-going children received their marching orders on Dec 5 and will have to report to work at new places across the South China Sea on Jan 6.

Speaking to malaysiakini yesterday, Sabah Banking Employees' Union (SBEU) president Margaret Chin, who was in the capital to discuss the latest development with NUBE, said the bank's action reflected its total disregard to industrial relations and harmony.

Although SBEU does not come under the NUBE, it works closely with the latter and shares an affiliation with the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC).

Bad faith

"The decision (by HSBC) was clearly done in bad faith, knowing very well the affected staff cannot afford to be transferred away from home. We believe that the bank's real intention is to force them to resign," said Chin.

"Perhaps the employer is taking advantage of the situation in the bank union now to do anything it likes," she added.

Chin said SBEU is alarmed at the bank's action in transferring staff without prior consultation with the affected workers and trade union.

"It is obvious that the bank is trying to reduce its staff after the voluntary separation scheme (VSS) offered to them earlier was not successful," she said.

She added that the transfer will also cause financial and familial hardships to the affected staff as they will be forgoing their 'Sabah allowance' with no compensation either despite the increased living costs.

"Therefore, we demand for the bank to retract the indiscriminate transfers and have the workers consulted through the union before any decision is made on them," she said.

HSBC has five branches in Sabah with about 120 unionised staff. This year, the HSBC in Malaysia received five international and national awards in recognition for its excellence in financial services.

"However, it seems that the workers who have contributed to this are not being rewarded but penalised instead," Chin added.

When contacted today, HSBC head of public affairs Elizabeth Wee refuted allegations that the relocation was done with the intention to discriminate against certain staff, insisting instead that it was a "business decision".

She said due to the economic slowdown, HSBC staff nationwide had been given two options voluntary relocation or VSS.

Wee said the relocation was quite successful compared with the VSS, and that it was a better option than laying off personnel.

She added that all transferred staff will be given allowances that commensurate with the standard of living in their new workplaces and that those transferred to Kuala Lumpur will get a housing allowance.

In the case of pregnant and married women, they can appeal to the bank against their transfer within three months of the notice.

Wee also said the one-month notice of transfer is as agreed upon by both parties in the letter of employment.

Membership in jeopardy

In another development, HSBC staff were paid their December salary as early as on the 10th, without any deduction on their union dues.

As the automatic fee deduction has been cancelled by the bank since October, HSBC staff nationwide may lose their union membership for failing to pay the subscription fee for three consecutive months.

The unionised staff at Bank Bumiputra Commerce are also facing similar risk after no deduction was made in their latest salary paid on Dec 13.

Nine banks under the Malayan Commercial Banks Association (MCBA) have stopped the automatic fees deduction which is also known as 'check-off' facility since October, citing legal complications in the NUBE internal crisis as the reason.

The union members in the nine banks namely Alliance Bank, Maybank, Bumiputra Commerce, Hong Leong Bank, Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank (HSBC), Affin Bank, Public Bank, RHB Bank and Standard Chartered claimed their employers are taking advantage of the situation to kill the union.

NUBE was split into two factions after its first ever election in July produced results that did not go down well with the previous officers.