Rescuing the embattled National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) from further damage is the first challenge of newly-elected Malaysian Trades Union Congress president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud has assigned for himself.

"An emergency resolution for a fresh election to resolve this long-standing internal dispute was passed at the recently-concluded MTUC triennial delegates conference," said the persistent unionist.

Syed Shahir won the top post by a 47-vote majority to end Zainal Rampak's 19-year rein as head of the MTUC which has close to half-a-million members from over 200 affiliates nationwide.

"The issue can be resolved. It's all about teamwork and we have a good team now . What's important is for the president and secretary-general to work together towards common goals."

The NUBE dispute has remained a thorn in the flesh since late 2001 and since then, there have been numerous police reports and court appearances by both sides.

The matter still remains deadlocked.

Speaking to malaysiakini in a brief interview, he said young workers should be groomed to be future leaders in the labour movement.

"I'm happy to note that there are 11 new faces in our team now, which is a good sign for the future of the country's labour movement.

Onus on teamwork

"It means more fresh ideas from a fresh team that aspires to be more open, transparent and accountable."

He said it also meant reaching out to the grassroots "because it is their mandate that we need to fulfill over the next three years".

"We want to meet young workers ... those below 40 ... to gauge what they think or know about the trade union movement."

Teamwork seems to be Syed Shahir's current favourite phrase, as he intends to "put everything back in order".

"I'd like to bring all the MTUC affiliates to work together and see more tripartite dialogues."

On his eventual victory after four failed attempts, Syed Shahir admitted that although he felt elated he also realised the huge responsibility of making good on the pledges.

"Winning an election is one thing but keeping the promises is going to be a difficult task because I realise that affiliates have high expectations and it's not going to be easy.

"There is a wind of change and I felt the 450-strong delegates wanted that change to be reflected in the MTUC leadership itself."

Being open, he said, will certainly be an important change in handling labour affairs.

"I'm optimistic about working closely with the government and private sector. The focus would be on consolidating and mobilising affiliates for a more collective approach.

"Now that we've been elected, we need to pursue the 17 resolutions by engaging the relevant parties in dialogues and through continuous persuasive discussions."

Sense uneasiness

While he attributed the victory of key officials to "working solidly as a team", he did not dismiss the possibility that some support may have swung in his team's favour due to the Zainal-N Siva Subramaniam tag-team.

Incumbent secretary-general G Rajasekaran trounced Siva with a 95-vote majority to retain the key post.

"I could sense some uneasiness among members and delegates whom I had spoken to. That may have been one factor which led us to victory.

"Another could be due to my persistence in consistently challenging Zainal over the last 10 years for the top post without ever once declaring defeat," he opined.

Zainal fended off the 54-year-old's first challenge in 1994 by a tissue-thin six-vote majority.

The list of priorities would be determined by the MTUC working committee and general council who will hold their first meeting within the next few weeks.