Penang-based lawyer and industrial relations expert Ajit Singh Jessy will be reviewing laws pertaining to the legal rights of the retrenched Malaysian Airline workers.

Ajit said he is specifically looking at Section 17 of the Industrial Relations Act 1967 to see if the new MAS management, NewCo, can absorb the laid workers.

Section 17 deals with the effect of collective agreement which is binding on employers, union members to whom the agreement relates and their successors, assignees or transferees.

Ajit said NewCo is considered a successor, but it has decided not to retain the 6,000 workers, who will be exiting MAS by August.

There are about 150 affected workers at the MAS branch office in Penang.

“We want to see if MAS' collective agreements with the various unions are still valid, and whether they can still protect its members’ rights,” Ajit said at a press conference in George Town today.

“We want to see if the new management can absorb the workers, and we are looking into the MAS Act to see what are the factors restricting them from doing so,” he explained.

Ajit is also the Penang Human Resources liaison committee chairperson.

The MAS Act was tabled in Parliament in November last year to facilitate the forming of a new entity to replace Malaysian Airline System Berhad, with Malaysia Airlines Berhad.

Stricter limitations on unions

Among other restructuring plans, the new act will impose stricter limitations on unions.

Accompanying Ajit at the press conference were Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy, assemblymen Wong Hon Wai, RSN Rayer and other members of the Penang Taskforce on retrenched MAS workers.

The members include Penang Association of Hotels chairman Khoo Boo Lim, Frepenca human rights convener Noor Azam Mohd Noor, FMM Penang representative Khoo Cheok Sin, Labour Department assistant director Low Sook Jen and Malaysian Trades Union Congress (Penang) secretary K Veeriah.

The taskforce is planning to organise activities like job fairs during the weekends in Komtar or Dewan Sri Pinang to allow the affected workers to seek employment elsewhere.

Ramasamy ( photo ) said the Kulim Hi-Tech industrial park has also expressed their willingness to offer jobs to the workers.

Meanwhile, Career Assisted Centre (CAT) in Komtar, under PenangInvest, the state investment arm, has received enquiries from several interested MAS workers.

CAT manager Eunice Cheng said that she has received several resume from workers who came to register their names at the centre.

“Once we have the personal details of the workers, we will do the job matching,” she said.

The centre is opened from Mondays to Fridays and can be contacted by telephone at 04-2502170/2172.

Rayer, who is DAP’s Seri Delima assemblyman, asked if CAT can inform the assemblymen if any of the affected MAS workers live in their constituencies.

“If we know who they are, we can offer them immediate assistance. Many have school-going children and need financial assistance to get by,” he said.