MTUC gets back on track

With the MTUC’s top leadership finally settled at its recent triennial delegates conference, this country’s largest labour organisation can now look forward to a more focused future, WANI MUTHIAH reports. 

NEWLY elected MTUC president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud is a persistent man.  

Otherwise he would not have relentlessly and tenaciously pursued his goal of becoming the labour organisation’s president over the last 15 years. 

It is also with persistence, sans belligerence, that he pledges to work towards the betterment of the nation's workforce. 

“I believe in leadership with dignity, and because of this I will adhere to the principle of open negotiations and discussions with relevant parties such as the government and employers,” Syed Shahir said in an interview recently. 

NEW TEAM: Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr Fong Chan Onn shaking hands with Syed Shahir while other members in the new line-up look on at his office in Putrajaya. Seated are HumanResources Ministry chief secretary Datuk Dr P. Manogaran (left) and Rajasekaran.

He was quick to add that being non-confrontational did not mean that he could be persuaded to give in to policies and conditions that would short-change workers and put them at the mercy of unscrupulous employers. 

“We will insistently pursue negotiations until we convince both the government and employers why it is important for them to see our point of view as well as how it will benefit the country as a whole,” added the 52-year-old who is also executive secretary of the National Union of Transport Equipment and Allied Industries Workers (NUTEAIW). 

Some of the problems and issues that Syed Shahir will have to tackle include convincing the government to reform the Trades Union Act 1959 in order to prevent union busting, and to increase the MTUC membership. 

When asked to explain the need to restructure the Trades Union Act 1959, Syed Shahir said provisions in it (the Act) prevented workers from organising themselves into bigger groups. 

This in turn resulted in each profession or trade having minute unions of their own instead of a combined body to represent them collectively, he said. 

“Naturally, these small unions are more concerned about their respective collective bargaining machinery and internal problems rather than dealing with the plethora of problems troubling the nation’s workers in entirety,” he said. 

Among the organisation’s membership, there are positive responses for Syed Shahir’s election to the post.  

MTUC deputy-secretary general Abdul Halim Mansor said much of the MTUC’s agenda had gone asunder in recent years due to factionalism within the organisation, but with Syed Shahir finally in, the umbrella body was back in its element. 

“Syed Shahir belongs to secretary-general G. Rajasekaran’s team and they are both headed towards the same goals,” he said.  

“In the past, Rajasekaran’s hands were tied because there was dissent from the other faction.” 

Abdul Halim added that he was convinced that both Syed Shahir and Rajasekaran would successfully steer the MTUC towards the right direction together. 

Syed Shahir, who has been with NUTEAIW for three decades, said that since the MTUC’s leadership is made up of a single team now, the congress would finally be able to pursue its goals collectively and without any unwanted hindrance. 

In a previous interview with The Star Syed Shahir had said that he had chosen to ally himself with Rajasekaran because the latter “would not sell out on the nation’s workforce nor could be bought over by anyone”.  

Syed Shahir ventured into the world of trade unionism in his early 20s in 1974, after he contested the Raub state assembly seat under the then Parti Sosialis Rakyat Malaysia (PSRM) banner. 

He lost but his endeavour into politics as a PSRM candidate brought him in contact with scores of unionists who made such a profound impact on his life that he left Raub soon after to take up the position of industrial relations officer with the NUTEAIW in Kuala Lumpur. 

On those who had influenced him the most, Syed Shahir said he had great admiration for activists such as Balan, Veerasenan and Ganapathy, who were labour leaders in the 1940s, as well as nationalists Ahmad Boestaman and Dr Burhanudin Helmi. 

“I never met these men but have read a lot about them. They were admirable people who willingly sacrificed themselves for the benefit of their fellow workers and countrymen. They contributed a lot without expecting any recognition or reward,” he said.