Railwaymen have put their employer on notice of their intention to stage three pickets, including one nationwide, against the management’s decision to establish a subsidiary, ETS Sdn Bhd.

According to the president of the Railwaymen’s Union of Malaya Abdul Razak Md Hassan, the first will take place at Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) headquarters in Jalan Sultan Hishammuddin at 5.30pm on July 7.

He added that the second will be  at 10 union offices nationwide on July 21.

“The main picket, which will see support from at least 3,500 members, is scheduled to take place during the launch of ETS Sdn Bhd,” he added.

NONE He, however, could not confirm the launch date.

Abdul Razak ( left in photo ) told Malaysiakini that the union had been forced to resort to this action as the union’s written and verbal requests not to set up the entity was ignored by the management, the Transport Ministry and the Finance Ministry.

Earlier, he said work-to-rule action will follow should the KTMB management refuse to budge from their decision to set up a new subsidiary to manage five ETS units.

On June 9, he had  also urged KTMB president Aminuddin Adnan to resign from his position as he had failed to show interest in the welfare of the union members and to reach a consensus on four outstanding issues at a June 2 meeting.

The union condemned the decision to set up a new subsidiary on the grounds that it could lead to:

(1) Erosion of  the existing employee benefits, i.e. medical benefits;

(2) The management working  against the interests of KTMB and its employees;

(3) Mismanagement of funds;

(4) Benefits for the KTMB board and its managing director with new allowances; and,

(5) A possible hike in fares.