It has been three years since Malaysian Trade Unions Congress (MTUC) leaders battled it out in elections. Now the time has come for another ballot war.

Elections are scheduled for Dec 17 and 18. Although pundits are not expecting any surprises for the two key posts - president and secretary-general - fireworks are still expected in the contest for some posts.

The MTUC elections involve a straightforward system where each member of a particular union will vote for a preferred candidate.

The umbrella body consists of 603 trade unions with 800,951 members. The majority of unions average at about 1,000-2,000 in members except for the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) which boasts a staggering 30,000 membership nationwide.

However only about 600 delegates are expected to vote in the election during its triennial conference which will be held at Rumah Peladang in Jalan Templer, Petaling Jaya.

Given the membership figures in NUBE, the union will be decisive as to who holds what post in the MTUC.

Malaysiakini looks at three key positions which, according to observers, will witness ‘interesting’ battles.

President

Imcumbent Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud will face a challenge from his deputy and National Union of Telekom Employees (Nute) president Mohamed Shafie Mammal.

This is the second time Mohamed Shafie is contesting the post. The first was in 1989. Syed Shahir has held the post since 2004.

However, judging from the number of unions that nominated Syed Shahrir (19) compared to Shafie (9), observers are not expecting any upsets.

Apart from this, they believe that the incumbent will retain his position due to his aggressive approach in handling workers’ issues.

“He favours direct actions like picketing instead of a passive dialogue approach which is already viewed as a frustrating method by workers,” they added.

Shafie, however, is known to be an ardent believer in the tripartite system (a union-government-employers dialogue approach). Shafie has been the target of corruption allegations and is accused of having strong links with Barisan Nasional (BN).

A deputy president post for 13 years, he told a press conference yesterday that his decision to contest was because he feels “it is time for a change".

“We have to change people’s perspective that the congress is influenced by political parties. We want our voice to be heard and respected by everyone, including the government,” he said.

He said the congress needs to be transparent and to focus more on labour issues instead of political issues. It is an open secret that Shafie made this statement in relation to Syed Shahir's involvement with an opposition party.

However given the government’s recent proposed amendments to the law, which are seen as ‘anti-worker’, any candidate’s perceived close ties with BN will not go down well with the workers.

Shafie is also alleged to have been instrumental in the privatisation of Telekom which later led to the rise of telecommunication tariffs.

This drew flak from the majority of lower middle-income workers and according to observers, this will be a minus point for the presidential-hopeful.

Secretary-general

This is referred to as the “most powerful” position in MTUC and observers do not expect any upsets here either.

They are quite confident that incumbent G Rajasekaran will retain his post despite being challenged by Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid (president of the clubs employees union).

However, there could be a little twist that might tip the scales.

Abdullah Sani has the support of NUBE, the union with the biggest membership. Should it vote for the contender, then Rajasekaran will “mathematically not stand a chance” in retaining the post which he has helmed for 10 years.

If Abdullah Sani wins, Syed Shahir’s faction will consolidate its grip on MTUC. This will not go down well with BN, which has always felt uneasy about the president’s ‘socialist tendencies’.

Deputy president

Following Shafie’s decision to vie for the top post, the number two slot will witness a three-way battle between Mohd Khalid Atan (president of the timber employees union, TEU), Abdul Razak Abdul Hamid (president of Penang textile workers union) and P Maniyam (electrical industrial workers union).

While this position is viewed as being “the least assertive”, the Shafie camp has nevertheless placed Khalid as one of its nominees.

Getting back to roots

No matter what the election outcome, many labour experts believe that MTUC has not done enough to address the problems faced by workers.

One expert who wished to remain anonymous said that, despite the “progressive” image of Syed Shahir, he has been passive on key issues like the threats posed to workers by the proposed US-Malaysia Free Trade Agreement and healthcare privatisation.

“Instead of organising workers and fighting as unions of the 50s and 60s used to he is more inclined towards going on international missions, that is to say, vacations,” he alleged.

Elaborating, the expert said the current MTUC leadership is keener on fostering relationships with international movements like the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

This is because the ILO gives out lucrative project grants and perks, he claimed.

“Not to say they (the MTUC leadership) are not doing their job at all, they are, but (they) are not doing enough. The current leadership should go to the ground and address the problems of the workers," he stressed.

“We need to bring MTUC back to its original purpose, that is to organise the workers and stand united against the enemy of the working class, so that workers’ grievances can be solved and justice will have its due position in society.”

Syed Shahir was not available for comment.