KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MAS) has taken action against employees who had joined the gathering to hand over a memorandum to the Human Resources Minister over union matters, such as union busting, at Putrajaya in November.

MAS has suspended National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia (Nufam) secretary-general Mohd Akram Osman, a chief steward for 25 years. The airline also sacked four female flight attendants and issued 30 show-cause letters on Jan 14 to cabin crew union members who were at the gathering.

The show-cause letters were issued to these crew members as it was an “illegal gathering”.

The union is urging the Human Resources Minister, the Attorney General office, the director-general of industrial relation and the director-general of trade unions to control all misbehaviour and tactics used by employers against a union.

Last November, Nufam president Ismail Nasaruddin was also sacked.

MAS flight attendants had long felt that their rights were not properly represented by its biggest trade union, the Malaysia Airlines System Employees Union (Maseu) and had established Nufam to represent their interests. Maseu was seen as the body that took care of the rights of the cabin crew and had been negotiating collective agreements with the MAS management.

At a press conference yesterday, Ismail said the union is demanding that MAS reinstate Mohd Akram and those fired, plus withdrawing the show-cause letters issued to the 30 crew members immediately.

“We are concerned that MAS could sack the 30 crew members,” he said.

MAS has violated industrial laws and is deemed to be carrying out “union busting” against Nufam and its members and preventing employees from exercising their rights to organise, he added.

There is clear evidence of industrial relations violation and union busting activities against Nufam, Ismail also alleged.

Under the Industrial Relations Act 1967, any gathering made in a peaceful manner is allowed and union members can participate in union activities, he stressed, noting that MAS should not deny their rights as union members.

Meanwhile, Senator Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud, former president of the Malaysian Trades Union Congress, said the Ministry of Human Resource should penalise employers that violate laws with harsher penalties just like how it is being done in Europe, where laws are strict on union busting.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on February 27, 2014.