Some 130 of Maybank's IT workers today picketed in front of the bank's headquarters in Jalan Tun Perak to pressure for better severance terms following the bank's move to out-source its entire infrastructure services department to a US-based IT firm.

On Tuesday, 290 workers from the department received termination letter from Maybank, together with an offer to transfer their employment to CSA Malaysia, an affiliate of US-based CSC Group, starting Oct 13.

"The package that was offered to us is inadequate as it does not take into account the amount of service years staff have put into at the bank," a representative of the workers told malaysiakini .

He said that bank management attempted to renegotiate this morning, assuring workers that the bank would reopen the issue if workers were willing to delay this afternoon's picket.

But as the bank refused to put on paper any of its commitments to look into the matter, he said workers had no choice but to continue on with their picket plans.

Workers dispute the three months salary compensation offered to all 290 who are asked to leave the company, as this does not appropriately reflect the years of service of each employee.

Fewer benefits

This is compounded by the fact that CSA's terms and benefits - such as the quantum for performance-based bonus - does not match up to what workers used to receive in Maybank.

However, almost all workers have signed up with the third party company. The representative said this is because the workers "don't have a choice."

"We may be willing to take a chance with CSA but at least give us a choice on the matter by providing us with the kind of retrenchment benefits appropriate to our seniority," he said.

Instead, he said the bank negotiated the deal with CSA to hire the workers without any input from them, and wrongly gave out employee details to the outsourcing company without their consent.

He added that the bank has unfairly sought protection for itself by placing a clause in the termination letter, which says that the company can retract the termination should the deal with CSA fall through.

"According to our lawyers, this cannot be valid. How could you terminate someone's employment and then have a clause in there to retract their decision?" he said.

He said the workers have written to the management and appeal to MCA public services and complaints bureau chief Michael Chong for help, but "nothing has worked."

Workers 'not retrenched'

In a New Straits Times report yesterday, Maybank deputy president Hooi Lai Hoong disputed that the bank did not provide fair compensation, as the workers were not "retrenched".

"The employees are merely moving with their work, so to speak, because what they are doing here under the IT department will be done at the IT service provider company," she said, adding that workers were guaranteed employment until retirement age.

Hooi also said the outsourcing was well within the requirements of the Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1979 (Bafia), as only the infrastructure segment would be taken over by CSA.

This was in response to claims by the Malaysian Trades Union Congress that the outsourcing move would mean that vital information would be passed on to third party companies who do not come under the control of Bank Negara or Bafia.