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Aidila Razak | 3:06PM Nov 14, 2013
Malaysia Airlines has denied that the suspension of its chief steward and union head Ismail Nasaruddin was an act of “union busting”, saying that it had acted in accordance to the law.
Responding to Malaysiakini, the national airlines said it has the “prerogative to take disciplinary action on its employee” if the employee contravenes his or her contract of employment.
“Any disciplinary action will be taken once all evidence is gathered. At this point in time, the decision is confidential in nature as it is between MAS and the employee concerned,” the airline said.
It also said the suspension of Ismail, who is president of the National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia (Nufam), does not contravene Section 59 of the Industrial Relations Act 1967.
This section states that employers cannot threaten an employee’s position for his or her involvement in a trade union.
Malaysiakini earlier reported that MAS had on Nov 8 suspended Ismail for making a statement criticising MAS chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya (left), which was published in SunBiz on the same day.
Ismail called for Ahmad Jauhari to be replaced for allegedly failing to attend to the welfare of the MAS cabin crew and to engage in collective agreement negotiations.
He had earlier also accused the Malaysia Airlines System Employees Union (Masue) of trying to edge out Nufam, which was established about a year ago.
According to MAS, the collective agreement negotiations for the cabin crew have been carried out with Maseu and the agreement was signed on Dec 12, 2012.
“(This) has been taken cognisance of by the Industrial Court, on Jan 3, 2013,” the airline said, adding that the agreement also outlined procedures for raising grievances, including those related to cabin crew welfare.
“Malaysia Airlines will work hand-in-hand with all relevant parties to achieve amicable decisions,”
Source: Malaysiakini
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