It was puzzling to read the letter by Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) president J Solomon with the heading MTUC urges new Human Resources minister to look after needs of workers. While calls to take care of workers needs are legitimate, it is unfortunate that the union leader is seeking help from Perikatan National, which is basically a neo-liberal entity.
Even if the government does meet Solomon’s request it would not change the fundamental economic system in this country that is very pro-employer. Most of the focus of this new government is going to be on empowering bumiputera big business rather than workers issues in the real sense. The government is made up of the old conservative personalities of 63 years of rule and it would be a miracle if they really stood up for workers’ rights.
The very composition of the cabinet reveals that workers’ rights and environmental issues is not the real agenda of government. This is in contrast to other countries where the portfolio of the labour ministry is given a strategic role and value and helm by real experts in the field, because there is an underlying strategic concern for human capital development and human rights of workers.
In the current context of digital revolution, horizontal empowerment of workers to shape their destiny is vital. This requires building new networks of unions and coming up with strategies on how to use new skills and be less dependents on the good will of the government and employers.
Besides being aware of the new economy, MTUC leaders should focus on how to build a knowledgeable strong union that is able to grasp the threat of surveillance capitalism that uses workers data as a behaviour product for futuristic markets. All this requires a new way of thinking.
Using personal vendetta against a previous minister to lure the current minister of human resources is unethical. Claims that the previous minister is responsible for union busting and compromising with employers is also inaccurate if one reads the amended industrial relations act in an objective manner.
The fact that the previous minister transcended the opposition from the Malaysian Employers Federation and the elite of the MTUC to pass the Bill was welcomed by other unions leaders. This nullifies Mr Solomon’s claims that the amended industrial relations act provides for union busting. He should first reach out to his co-unionist and find out why they supported the amended bill in the first place.
Therefore, the MTUC is in a dire need for a new leadership that is knowledgeable, ethical, objective and conscious of an unjust economic system that takes on different forms. It has to take proactive measures to shape its destiny rather than merely depending on the good will of the government. There should be no place for personal vendetta.
RONALD BENJAMIN is the secretary of the Association for Community and Dialogue (Acid).
