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Of Malaysian companies, unions and salaries

Hafidz Baharom

Hafidz Baharom is a social observer who has ruffled more than a few feathers. He has written for a

number of publications, and is always looking to stir up discussions on things which need to be said.

Hafidz Baharom

Published: 17 June 2014 | Updated: 17 June 2014 2:57 PM

When an MP lambasts a union for fighting for better corporategovernance, you have to start wondering what on Earth is going on.

Recently, Public Accounts Committee deputy chairman Dr Tan Seng Giawreportedly said our national airline MAS could not survive due to incredibledemands put forth by its workers' union.

Heres what I dont get. Around the world, unions have bad reputation in thepress over protests and strikes.

In London recently, the Underground workers' union also went on strike demanding higher

wages.

In the United States, teachers have gone on strike against state governments forwrongful treatment on the issue of collective bargaining. Similarly in Malaysia,we saw an outcry from the teachers' union over an issue of assessment.

In the case regarding MAS, the employees demand the immediate removal ofmanagement personnel due to bad decision-making. Who can blame them?

After the MH370 and other incidents involving MAS planes, is it an issue with theairline industry as a whole or just our national carrier?

Also, is it due to the workers or the management?

Subsequently, is it because the workers are now underpaid?

Yes, they are. The truth is, MAS employees remain one of the lower paid workersin the airline industry, particularly when it comes to their maintenance crew.

And the only reason they still work with MAS is loyalty. Not to the company, butto their families.

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Because it would truly be unfair to root out an entire family to move to the likesof Dubai or Qatar or any of the Emirate states where their pay would be better off.

Lets face the facts: our companies are greedy and not paying decent wages. Andworse, our government knows this but has no idea how to make this work to their

advantage.

Unions are there to keep companies honest and ensure their members get a fairshare of profits. Unfortunately, the corporate sector has a totally different idea

when it comes to who gets the funds.

Public-listed companies would put their shareholders on the first tier to receiveprofits, while private companies would only give out rewards on x times yoursalary basis, rather than actually taking a look at who needs more.

And nowadays, the employee shares option scheme (Esos) has all died out

because it is no longer profitable to sell shares of a GLC to the staff at adiscounted price when there are so many public and international funds buyingin.

Instead, employees are told to rely on a single wage, hoping that this is enough tosustain their families. If youre married, congratulations, you can now depend ontwo salaries instead.

The Edge earlier this year published a piece showing how even RM6,000 was notenough for a single breadwinner to raise a family.

And from personal experience, I can assure you that such a cost is true even forthe unmarried but exclusive bunch of Malaysians.

And this is why Malaysia actually needs more unions. Unions force companiesand governments to direct their profits back to the employees, something that

both companies and government sometimes fail to include in their plans.

In Malaysia, our civil service union Cuepacs is vocal in ensuring the comfortabletreatment of its members while also ensuring that the service to the people is alsoup to standard.

And thus far, Cuepacs has kept to its word, particularly in the National RegistryDepartment and the Immigration Department, as shown by how fast my identitycard and passport were done last year.

Similarly, the Railwaymens Union of Malaysia (RUM), which handles theKomuter and Intercity trains under Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd, has recently

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been vocal on mismanagement, highlighting that there has been no spending inthe maintenance of the railway.

We have many unions in Malaysia and the truth is that most of them push forbetter treatment not only for its members but also for causes that the public

should take note of.

We are a nation with profits making up 67% of our GDP, while employee salariesand wages are below 30%. A so-called high income nation puts their peoplesincome at more than 50% of their GDP. As such, how can our government pushfor high income status when companies are unwilling to fork out better pay?

And while minimum wage is a start, this is not what Malaysians need. Instead,Malaysians need a decent salary with a little extra to ensure they have enough fortough times ahead. June 17, 2014.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does notnecessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider

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