ROS: MTUC special committee temporary, tasked with re-election only

Summary

• ROS says the committee is only mandated to carry out several tasks as per court orders, especially for holding a re-election to choose MTUC main office bearers.

• Cuepacs slams the special committee for issuing damaging statements using MTUC's name, says the committee has no such right.

The Registrar of Societies (ROS) has clarified that the Malaysian Trades Union Congress’ (MTUC) joint special committee is a temporary body set up solely to carry out duties ordered by the court, including conducting a re-election for its office bearers.

This follows controversy over MTUC’s exclusion from sending worker representatives to the International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva.

In a statement, ROS said the committee was established based on court rulings in February and May that ordered MTUC to convene a special delegates meeting to elect its main leaders.

"Based on both court orders, the establishment of the special committee was temporary in nature and its role is bound by duties set out by the court orders, especially to conduct an election to choose MTUC main office bearers.

"The special committee would automatically dissolve after the special delegates meeting is concluded.

"Since this matter involves court process, ROS is not engaging the parties in this case and will wait for results from the election, which has been scheduled to be held on Aug 2 and 3," it said.

The joint committee had come under fire after clashing with the Human Resources Ministry over the exclusion of MTUC from the ILC.

Committee chairperson J Solomon accused the ministry of violating the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) constitution by allegedly blocking workers from being represented at the forum.

However, the ministry maintained that the special committee has no mandate to appoint delegates or make policy decisions on behalf of MTUC.

MTUC has been mired in a prolonged internal leadership dispute, which led to a controversial meeting in January where it announced the removal of president Effendy Abdul Ghani.

Effendy has disputed the move, calling the Jan 18 meeting illegal and insisting he remains MTUC president.

Cuepacs slams committee for using MTUC name

The Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) has also criticised the committee for issuing public statements using MTUC’s name, saying this created confusion and tarnished the country’s image.

Cuepacs secretary-general Abdul Rahman Nordin said the committee was only tasked with holding the re-election and has no authority to represent the congress or speak on its behalf.

“Cuepacs condemns the action of certain individuals who have been using MTUC’s name without having any legal mandate to do so.

“We urge the special committee to stop any action that can affect the relationship between the government, employers and employees,” he said in a statement.

Abdul Rahman said Cuepacs, as a body with the largest number of representatives in MTUC, also took issue with the committee’s delay in holding the re-election, which he said resulted in Malaysian workers not being represented at the ILC for the first time in history.

“This mess not only affects the country’s reputation but also has a direct impact on Cuepacs’ participation in ILC.

“Because arrangements for flight tickets and accommodation had been done much earlier, we could not cancel at the last minute. Cuepacs and our member organisations had already paid all the costs,” he added.

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