About 300 National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) members staged a 15-minute protest against 'external interferences' in the union's factional feud outside their headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.

The members, who came from Penang, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah and around the Klang Valley, were angry with Trades Union Department director-general Izhar Harun for recognising the leadership of a rival team.

They claimed Izhar had no right to override the members' mandate which favoured the team led by general secretary J Solomon.

In addition to displaying a banner that read 'NUBE membership supports the leadership of Bro Jalil [union president Abdul Jalil Abdul Hamid], Bro Solomon and NUBE exco', the disgruntled members also chanted, 'Hidup NUBE' and 'Hidup union'.

The latest chaos began soon after Solomon and the leader of the rival team, Muhammad Fauzi Shamsuddin — who is the union's former deputy president — submitted two different leadership lists to Izhar for endorsement.

On Wednesday, Izhar issued a notice accepting Fauzi's team as the legitimate NUBE office-bearers. However, no reason was given for his decision.

'Our right'

When met after the gathering, union member Poon Kai Chong said they were protesting against Izhar's decision because "it was wrong for him to decide on the leadership of the union".

"Members have already made a choice. It is our right to choose who we want to run our union."

Poon said members had sent letters to the Human Resources Ministry asking for his intervention to resolve the matter amicably.

Yesterday, both factions were summoned to Putrajaya for a meeting with the ministry's secretary-general Dr Syed Mohamad Syed Abdul Kadir, but details of the four-hour meeting were not available.

However, Solomon described it as "cordial" and were optimistic of the outcome.

Another NUBE member Gur Satvinder said the director-general's acceptance of the rival team as lawful office-bearers was a show of disrespect of the union's constitution.

In a statement released later, NUBE president Abdul Jalil said Izhar had "obviously proceeded in a wrong footing" when he wrote to Solomon saying that Fauzi's team would now be recognised as the legitimate union leadership.

"We call on him to accept his mistake and withdraw the May 29 letter, and recognise Solomon as the NUBE general secretary," said Abdul Jalil, adding that the union would be forced to consider other avenues if the decision was not reversed.

The factional feud within the union intensified last October when Solomon was removed in his third month in office. However, the High Court later ordered his reinstatement.

No power

Meanwhile, Malaysian Trades Union Congress secretary-general G Rajasekaran said he was optimistic in Syed Mohamad's capability to find an amicable solution.

In a letter to the Human Resources Ministry's secretary-general yesterday, Rajasekaran urged the ministry not to act hastily in reaching any decision.

Noting that most of Izhar's actions of late were "quite biased", he reminded the ministry that it should not appoint principal office-bearers of a union and that the director-general has no power to violate the union's constitution.

Rajasekaran also noted the conflict between Izhar's decision and the court order, and suggested that legal advice be sought on the matter.

"We appeal to the secretary-general to advise Izhar to withdraw his letter because such a decision has wide implications.

"Otherwise, we would be forced to make a stand to ensure that the freedom and welfare of the trades union movement is guaranteed."

Izhar, Syed Mohamad and Muhammad Fauzi could not be reached for comment.