MTUC leadership crisis leaves Malaysian workers unrepresented at International Labour Conference in Geneva, says Human Resources Ministry
PUTRAJAYA, June 7 — There is no worker representation in the Malaysian delegation to the 113th International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva, Switzerland, due to there being no official leadership in the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC), said the Ministry of Human Resources (KESUMA).
It stressed, in a statement today, that claims that the government deliberately excluded the participation of MTUC representatives were unfounded, misleading and malicious.
KESUMA added that the Court of Appeal had on Feb 21 ordered the MTUC to hold fresh leadership elections within 90 days, which will be managed by a joint special committee (JBK).
'The election that was supposed to be held in May has been postponed to Aug 10, resulting in MTUC not having an official leadership to represent workers on any official platform, including the ILC,' it added.
According to KESUMA, the JBK that was specifically established to handle the re-election process has no mandate to make policy decisions or nominate representatives for international forums.
'In fact, the nomination of names by the JBK to the ILC is outside the jurisdiction granted by the court and had been objected to by several MTUC affiliate members,' it clarified.
KESUMA also emphasised that the selection of the Malaysian delegation to the ILC was made transparently based on the guidelines of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) as well as legal advice from the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) regarding MTUC's current status.
It added that the government remains committed to its principle of tripartite and supports the rights of a valid workers' union's participation on the global platform.
'KESUMA calls for the MTUC re-elections to be promptly resolved to protect the image of the workers' union movement and ensure Malaysia's complete participation in the ILC next year,' it said. — Bernama
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