TRADE UNION MOVEMENT

Trade union

Any organization, whose membership consists

of employees, which seeks to organize and
represent their interests both in the workplace
and society and in particular seeks to regulate
the employment relationship through the direct
process of collective bargaining with
management
Trade Union - Definition
• Any organisation:
- Whose membership consists of employees
- Which seeks to organise and represent their interests in the
workplace and/or society
- In particular, seeks to regulate employment relationship through
the direct process of collective bargaining

• Different Forms
- Trade unions, staff associations, professional associations
- UK Legal distinction: independent, recognised
Legal definition

• In the Malaysian context, The Trade Union Act 1959 (TUA) defined a
trade union as any temporary or permanent association or
combination of employers or of employees within a particular
establishment or industry or trade or occupation or within similar
industries or trades or occupations
Characteristics of union

• Trade unions have been described as utilitarian

- unions provided members with the benefits of collective bargaining
(e.g. Job security, wages, fringe benefits, and access to grievance
procedures)
• Trade unions have also been described as normative organizations
• - The existence of unions is predicated on members wanting to
belong to a union and wanting to fulfill their roles in the
organization, that is in the moral involvement in the union
• Union members may want to display their leadership qualities
through positions in the union
• There are several differences between unions and the workplace.
- Lack of authority over members and the need for members’
voluntary participation.
- The lack of formal authority over its members stems from the
difference in the nature of the exchange between the workers, the
union and the working organization.
• For instance, the worker is paid by and works for the organization. In
contrast, union members pay and expect the union to work for them.
• This difference in dynamics means that the union must convince
union members of its usefulness and also emphasize the importance
of member commitment to increase the union’s effectiveness.
Objectives of union

• To improve the terms of employment

• To improve the physical environment at work
• To achieve security of employment and income
• To achieve industrial democracy
• To achieve fair shares in national income and wealth
Trade Union Function
• Power – collective strength to act as counter force to management
and pressure group in society
• Economic regulation – maximize wages, terms and conditions, and
employment of members (and workers generally)
• Job regulation – Establish joint rule making system which protects
members from arbitrary management actions and allows
participation in organisational decision making.
Trade Union Function
• Social change – express the social cohesion, aspirations and/or
political ideology of membership and seek to develop a society and
government policies which reflect this view
• Benefits and service – e.g. advice, insurance, collective purchasing
power
• Self-fulfilment – opportunity for individual to develop outside
confines of his/her job
 Trade Union Function (power)
Inherent conflict in function
•Individualistic
-Satisfy individual’s aspirations
-Instrumental reasons for joining (protection, service and benefits,
better pay)
•Collectivistic
-Develop individual’s willingness to subordinate his/her interests to the
collective interests
-Altruistic reasons for joining (counter balance to management power,
joint regulation of work situation, reduce competition between
workers)
Sectional interest of union vs wider interests of trade union movement
Trade Union Function (economic)

• Major union activity for members

• Optimise achieving higher ‘real’ wages with maintaining
employment levels
- Only members or all employees?
• Political nature of wage policy
- Comparability and differentials
• Effect of wages on employment
- Cost-push or demand-pull?
• Effect on distribution of national income
Trade Union Function (job regulation)

• Protect and enhance members’ position in employment relationship

• Expansion of job regulation function through organisational-level
bargaining
• Limited legislative support
- Role of Works Councils
• Challenged by management HRM strategies
Trade Union Function (social change)

• Social segregation between ‘capital’ and ‘labour’

• Societal class conflict reduces to industrial conflict
• Political role for unions
- Influence social change
- Influence government policy
- Definition of ‘political’ activity
- Differing relationships to political parties and political system
Trade Union Function
Member services
•Mutual insurance
•Plastic-card unionism (emphasis on individualism)

Self-fulfilment
•Participate in decision making
-Internal union government
-Collective bargaining system
Trade Union Function
Trade union

Self-fulfilment

Member
service
Power Individual
Social change

Job regulation

Economic
regulation
Section 5(1) Industrial Relations Act 1967 states that no employer or trade
Union of employer or any person representing employer or union of employer
shall:

1.Impose any condition in a contract of employment seeking to restrain the

right of a person who is a party to the contract to join a trade union or to
continue his membership in a trade union.
2.Refuse to employ a person on the ground that he is or is not a member or
an officer of a trade union.
3.Discriminate against any person in regard to employment, promotion, any
condition of employment or working conditions on the ground that he is or
is not a member or officer of a trade union.
4.Dismiss or threaten to dismiss a workman or injure or threaten to injure
him in his employment or alter or threaten to alter his position by reason
that the workman is or proposes or persuade other person to become
member or officer of trade union or participates in a promotion or
formation or activities of trade union.
5.Induce a person to refrain from becoming or to cease to be a member or
officer of a trade union by conferring or offering to confer any advantages
on or by procuring or offering to procure any advantage for any person.
Members of a trade union also cannot persuade or force other
workers to join the trade union
Section 7 Industrial Relations Act 1967 indicates that no
workman or trade union of workmen and no person acting on
behalf of such trade union shall
1. Except with the consent of the employer, persuade at the
employer’s place of business during working hours a workman
of the employer to join or refrain from joining a trade union.
2. Intimidate/threaten any person to become or refrain from
becoming or to continue to be or to cease to be a member or
officer of a trade union.
3. Induce/persuade any person from becoming or cease to
become a member or an officer of a trade union by conferring
or offering to confer on any person or by procuring or offering
to procure any advantages.
Based on these acts, employees may claim for
victimization if they are restrain from joining or
become an officer in a trade union by an
employer. However, in many cases it is not
easy to prove the occurrence of victimization
and unfair labour practices.
Cancellation of Trade Union Registration (S15 Trade Union Act 1959)

S15(1) A certificate of registration of a trade union may be cancelled or

withdrawn by the Director General:
a. At the request of the trade union upon its dissolution to be verified in
such manner as the Director General may require, or
b. If he is satisfied that
i. The certificate of registration was obtained with fraud or mistake
ii. Any one of the objects or rules of the trade union is unlawful
iii. The constitution of the trade union or of its executive is unlawful.
iv. The union is being or has been or is likely to be used for any
unlawful purpose or for any purpose contrary to its objects or rules.
v. The trade union has contravened any provision of this Act or any
regulations.
vi. The fund of the trade union has been expended in unlawful
manner.
vii. The trade union has ceased to exist.
Who can join a union?
Section 26(1) specified a workman who is eligible to join a trade union :
1. A person above the age of 16 can join a union that is related to his trade,
employment and industry. However the involvement of a person who is
above 16 but less than 18 years of age in the union activities is limited.
2. A person who is under 21 cannot become a member of the executive or a
trustee of a registered trade union.
3. A member who is below the age of 18 shall not be entitled to vote on the
matters regarding strike and lock-out and all related matters, the imposition
of a levy, dissolution of the trade union or of the federation with which it is
connected, amendment of the rules of trade union where such amendment
results in increasing the liability of the members to contribute or in
decreasing the benefits to which members are entitled.
4. Persons who are in education institution for example school, polytechnic,
college, university, college university or any institution providing education
established under any written law are prohibited from joining a trade union
unless he is a bona fide employed as a workman and above 18 years of age.
5. A workman can only join a trade union or become the executive of the
trade union that is established in the similar trade or occupation where he
work.
According to Section 9 Industrial Relations Act 1967 – workmen
that belong to these categories are not allowed to join a
trade union:
1. Managerial capacity
2. Executive capacity
3. Confidential capacity
4. Security capacity
Recognition of Trade Union

• An important prerequisite for trade unions in order to

commence collective bargaining with its employer
• Is a starting point for collective bargaining
• The IRA 1967 requires union to attain recognition
before they can proceed to invite the employer to
commence CB
• Recognition means the employer concedes that the
union is the legitimate representative of his workers
and has the right to speak on their behalf.

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 Recognition of Trade Union
• Once a union has been given recognition by the employer it
gains the following advantage
• The union can represent employees who have a grievance
or complaint
• It can negotiate for better terms and conditions on behalf of
all workers in the workplace who are eligible to be members
of the union. A collective agreement by law covers all
bargainable employees in a particular workplace
• Registration of TU gives it legal right to exist but recognition
means an individual employer is willing to accept the union as
the rightful representative of his workers.

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Recognition Procedure
• Fills out Claim for recognition form (Form A) and presents it to employer. –
a copy will be submitted to the DGIR – name, address, specify the workers
for whom the union is requesting recognition, include a copy of the union’s
constitution.
• Upon receiving such claim, employer must reply within 21 days with 3
possible responses
• Voluntarily give recognition
• Refuse to grant recognition – must inform the union of this decision and
give reason for it. The union has 14 days to report to DGIR in the IR
Department. If not, deemed that the application is withdrawn.
• Reject application because they question whether the union is the
correct one to represent its employees – an investigation will be carried
out by the Trade Unions Department which will examine job duties and
the nature of the business of the company and use its discretion in
determining this.

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Recognition Procedure
• The IR Department will also determine whether a majority of the workers in
the company are union members – membership check, If more than 50%
are members recognition can be granted
• An officer from the IR Department will visit the workplace that has made
recognition claims
• A secret ballot will be held to determine voluntary members.
• If after advising employer of the outcome of the membership check
recognition is still not granted
• The DGIR will report the matter to the Minister of HR who has the power to
(under section 9 of IRA) decide whether the union should be recognized.
• Usually if more then 50% are members the minister will order recognition.
• If union’s claim fore recognition is rejected after intervention by the Minister,
it must wait 6 months before submitting another claim- has to gather more
members to reach 50% membership.

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Conditions for Recognition
• The union must be registered
• It must be registered as a trade union under the Trade Unions Act
1959 which provide the guidelines for registration of trade
unions.
• The union must be competent to represent the workers
involved
• i.e. it must be confined to the same establishment, industry, trade
or occupation as those employees (or to an industry, trade or
occupation similar to theirs).
• The union must be the appropriate union to represent the
workers involved
• White-collared workers can only join white-collared unions
• The union must be sufficiently representative of the workers
• At least 50.1% of the workers are members or are willing to be
represented by the union for the purpose of collective bargaining.

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• Example of unions (workers)
- National Union of Plantation Workers (NUPW) – Plantation industry
- National Union of Banking Employees (NUBE) – Banking industry
- Malayan Agricultural Producers’ Association (MAPA) – Plantation
industry
- Malayan Commercial Banks’ Association (MCBA) – Banking industry
Public sector
• Congress of unions of employees in the public and civil service
(CUEPACS)
• A federation of trade unions of government workers. It serves as
spokesman for the public service workers and was first registered in
1959.
• The Trade Union Act, sec 72, permits unions in a similar trade,
occupation or industry to form a federation.
• The objectives of CUEPACS
• To promote the interests and improve the working
environment of its affiliate trade unions
• To improve the conditions of employment of the
members of the affiliate trade unions
• To promote legislations affecting the interest of the
member unions in particular or trade unionists in
general.
 Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC)
• The Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) plays an important ,
although sometimes controversial, role in the industrial relations
system.
• MTUC is not a union, but a society registered with the Registrar of
Societies.
• Members of the MTUC are individual trade unions which choose to
affiliate to it.
• Objectives of the MTUC
• Providing an advisory service to its members
• Presenting the labour viewpoint to the government
• Presenting workers’ views on national issues e.g.
Development plans and educations
• Representing the Malaysian labour movement at
forums abroad
• Providing trade union education
• Carrying out research on matters of trade union
interest.