The government is milking the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) internal crisis to tighten controls over the labour movement by proposing drastic amendments to the Trade Unions Act 1959 (TUA), an official said today.

J Solomon, the banking sector union's general secretary aligned to Abdul Jalil Hamid's faction, said the internal dispute was being exploited by the government to cast a wider net over trade unions.

He said it has always been the government's intention to tighten the TUA but has never found an opening, until now.

"The government is using the NUBE issue as an excuse to push for the amendments, most of which we feel are totally unnecessary," he said when contacted today.

On Wednesday, Human Resources Ministry Dr Fong Chan Onn, insisting that Malaysia has been a good member, said the government was not obliged to comply with ILO recommendations.

He also firmly denied that the proposed amendments were designed to work around the NUBE crisis.

Solomon said in its present form, the Act gives the Director-General of Trade Unions (DGTU) very wide discretionary powers over many matters.

"Why is the government trying to further curb our freedom of association by proposing wide-ranging amendments?" he posed.

Selective power exercise

Trade unionists and labour experts are opposed to the proposed amendments to the TUA arguing that the current provisions are adequate to regulate the labour movement, which they claim is already suppressed.

Citing attempts to grant greater powers to the DGTU, Solomon said the Act already provided for immense powers but "the selective exercise of those powers is where the problem lies".

"Most of problems afflicting trade unions today could be eliminated if the DGTU exercised his discretionary powers fairly.

"Now, the government is using the NUBE issue as an excuse to push for the amendments and greater control over all trade unions. That is very dangerous."

To illustrate the existing powers, he said, the DGTU seized documents from the NUBE office a year ago under Section 57 of the TUA following allegations of misappropriation of funds.

"Until today, no action has been taken. In fact, our requests for the return of the documents have been rejected on grounds that investigations are underway.

"Due to this, we have been unable to submit the audited statement of accounts for 2003, which is a mandatory requirement under Section 56. This means the DGTU's selective exercise of power is forcing unions to violate the law."

The TUA, said Solomon, was also not in conformity with international standards on freedom of association, particularly recommendations by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

In-house unions favoured

As an example of repressive conditions, he noted that strikes were the most effective industrial action but it was almost impossible to organise here due to the overwhelming prerequisites imposed to discourage it.

"The next best thing is a picket. However, workers can continue picketing for a long time and even get sacked for doing it," he said, citing the case of the 10 members who were dismissed by Bumiputera Commerce Bank for alleged "acts of misconduct". Solomon is one of them.

Another tactic employed by the DGTU to curb trade union activity is the increasing recognition of in-house unions as opposed to national unions.

"Based on the track record, the DGTU clearly does not favour workers or trade unions following the latest trend of placing a lot of emphasis on in-house unions.

"It is common knowledge that the vast difference between the national and in-house unions have an implication on workers' rights to organise freely."

Noting the government's obvious preference for employers over workers, Solomon said that such an understanding gives employers the advantage of bulldozing through lopsided policies.

DGTU Mohd Zubir Mohd Basri could not be reached for comment.