Syed Jaymal Zahiid
Sep 17, 07 7:06pm
The government is allegedly using religion as a means to 'divide and
weaken' the Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC), claimed a source.
"Religion has played a big part in shaping the country's policies.
Now religion is being used to weaken workers' movements as well,"
added the source who works closely with trade unions.
The government is said to be backing the Islamic Union Federation of
Malaysia (PPIM) whose registration is pending an approval from the
Registrar of Society (ROS).
The source said a religion-based union in a country where religion is
constantly exploited to rake in votes, will counter the influence of
MTUC which is seen as an opposition-dominated body.
"If you form an Islamic-based federation of unions, the mere mention
of Islam itself will draw Muslim workers to join and when the concept
of Islam is controlled by a certain political party, it won't be
difficult to control them (Muslim workers)," he reasoned.
Deputy minister involved
The source also claimed that Deputy Human Resources Minister Abdul
Rahman Bakar was behind the alleged conspiracy.
"Even though some said he (Abdul Rahman) was merely applauding PPIM's
establishment, we have credible information that he was behind its
formation right from the start," he said.
The source pointed out that Abdul Rahman had been vocal in his
criticisms against MTUC and one occasion even accused it of being an
"opposition tool to incite hatred towards the government."
The deputy minister has also accused the MTUC leadership of having a
strong socialist leaning and stressed that the Barisan Nasional-led
government has zero-tolerance for left wing ideologies.
Several well-known union leaders were also implicated in the alleged
conspiracy against MTUC, which represents more than 500,000 private
sector workers in the country and has more than 200 affiliate bodies.
Meanwhile, the source said these individuals were allegedly 'pro-
establishment' and were currently helming 'yellow' unions.
'Yellow' unions refer to bureaucratic and passive unions while 'red'
unions are more aggressive in their tactics pertaining to engagement
with employers.
Internal politics
The source further claimed that the alleged internal feud in MTUC was
also a factor in the alleged conspiracy.
"So Abdul Rahman gathered all those who were opposed to incumbent
president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud (photo) to form an alliance to
weaken the MTUC president and the MTUC as a whole," he claimed.
On the ROS approval for PPIM, the source said the green light would
be given after the MTUC elections in December.
"This is because they know Shahir will win in the elections. The kill
is when PPIM finally becomes a recognised labour entity.
"This is when the Muslim members of MTUC will jump over to PPIM," he
explained.
Abdul Rahman could not be contacted for comment. Syed Shahir, on the
other hand, said he would be responding on this matter later this week.
----------------------------------------------------------------
This e-mail has been sent via JARING webmail at http://www.jaring.my
No comments:
Post a Comment