KUCHING, June 30 — Three Borneo-based unions of Malaysia Airlines (MAB) workers today expressed disagreement with a call for a strike to resolve grouses over the recent mass layoffs by the flag carrier.
Airlines Workers Union Sarawak secretary Lim Swee Seng, who spoke on behalf of the unions, said going on strikes or taking any form of industrial actions will only aggravate the problems.
He said the three unions believe in the power of negotiation to resolve problems between the employees and employers.
“No, we will not heed a recent call by the National Unions of Flight Attendants Malaysia (NUFAM) to go on strike,” he told reporters, pointing out that NUFAM is not “officially” recognised by the MAB management.
Also present at the press conference were Sarawak MAS Executive Staff Committee president Abdul Rahman Hassan and Airlines Transport Workers Union, Sabah president Awang Musa Awang Kassim.
The three unions also warned retained workers and staff of “numerous challenges ahead and tough choices to be made” when the new national carrier starts operation in September.
“The important thing is we need to move ahead and work in a professional manner with the management to address productivity, motivation and teamwork issues which have hampered the airline in the past,” Lim said.
He said the three unions are fully supporting the appointment of the new chief executive officer Christoph Mueller to lead the new airline in “these challenging times”.
Formerly Malaysia Airlines System (MAS), the flag carrier terminated its entire 20,000-strong workforce before the new legal entity, MAB, rehired two-thirds.
The national carrier was delisted in August last year after sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional offered to buy out minority shareholders for a total of RM1.38 billion to turn around the troubled airline.
