Unionists are beginning to recognise evidence of what seems like "subtle threats" by the government to clamp down on trade unions.

Some are questioning the logic and intentions behind Human Resources Minister Fong Chan Onn's latest announcement that trade union laws have to be tightened.

These are proposed amendments which are expected to be tabled in the next sitting of Parliament. Union officials found guilty of offences under the proposed amendments are liable not only to fines and custodial sentences, but can even face the sack.

But why the sudden fuss, unionists ask?

Last Monday, Fong said in Kuala Lumpur that under proposed amendments to the Trade Unions Act, unions will have to notify the director-general of trade unions within seven days of any form of financial assistance received from foreign sources.

The date, amount, name and address of the person or the body which gave the money and how the fund will be utilised will also have to be detailed out for the director-general, the minister said.

He added that whatever grants given should be made in the name of the trade union and not in the name of any individual or office bearer.

Why? "Because the present laws are silent on this issue," the minister said, in an interview with the New Straits Times.

The amendments are also to curb the activities of some union officials who had been receiving grants from overseas directly into their personal accounts. The offender is liable to be fined a sum not exceeding RM10,000, a jail term of not more than three years or both.

"The minister is trying to portray that unions are bad," said union leader Syed Shahrir Syed Mahmud, who is also executive-secretary of Transport Equipment and Allied Industries Workers' Union.

"Is the situation so serious to warrant such amendments?" he queried.

Isolated cases

Syed Shahrir said that all the trade unions registered under the Act have to submit reports, accounts and membership lists to the government by September every year.

He refuted allegations by Fong who said that about half of the 540 unions had failed to submit their accounts. He added that in all these years, other than a few isolated cases, there had been no reports of individuals who have been noted for corruption or mismanagement of funds.

"If there are such cases, prosecute them. The laws are there," he said, adding, "We feel that this is another strategy by the authorities to curb union activities."

Syed Shahrir reported that unions do receive grants from overseas but the amount is negligible. The funds are necessary to run programmes to empower workers and educate them of their rights.

Such bureaucratic constraints that make it difficult for unions to receive overseas funding will further impede the workers movement, the organising of which, many unionists feel, is already "not as easy as it seems".

Fong said that another proposed amendment was to make it mandatory for union officials to obtain the consent of the members by way of a resolution at a general meeting before disposing of any land or building belonging to the union.

"This again begs the question of necessity. How rampant is the situation? The constitution of any union states that the general committee can purchase land, building or invest for the benefit of the union," said Syed Shahrir.

"Anyway, before we arrive at such situations, we would have to get the blessings of our members first. There are several stages we have to go through before a decision is made, you know?" he added.

Syed Shahrir said that it is unfair to penalise the entire workers movement because of some "black sheep" within the union as such characters exist in any organisation.

And anyhow, he said, the ministry had lodged a police report against the National Union of Bank Employees for failing to get the necessary approval before investing in stocks, resulting in the union losing some RM23.2 million through contra deals last year.

"Why not let justice take its course, let the wrong be proven guilty, then penalised by the existing regulations instead of penalisng the others who have been going about their jobs dutifully and being loyal to the laws of the land?" he stressed, objecting to the proposed amendments.

Foreign workers

Another proposal by the ministry was to allow foreign workers to join trade unions, but not without imposing some bureaucratic process like filling up forms and being at the mercy of the director-general who decides which foreigner can or cannot join the fold.

The director-general of trade unions can impose any terms and conditions deemed necessary before granting the request. The director-general has the power to delay the approval by rejecting the application and subjecting the applicant to another 30 days in limbo, wondering where he or she had gone wrong in his or her application.

Those whose application had been rejected but dare to support directly or indirectly any activity of a trade union could be fined up to RM10,000, jailed up to one year or both. Union officials who allow this would also be subjected to the same penalty.

What if the worker was merely seeking help or exercising their rights to be represented? Foreign workers are already susceptible to a host of social problems. Without family support and little financial help, they are the ones who are in dire need of representation.

Syed Shahrir said that when foreign workers come legally into this country, they would have to sign an agreement in their country which disallows them from joining political parties or unions.

"But is the same agreement binding in this country?" he queried.

He said that this proposed amendment would only deter workers from participating in the union and this would leave their welfare much to be desired when problems occur.

"Who can represent such workers when union officials are also open to drastic sanctions and punishments were the amendments to take place?" he said.

"This is clearly the government's way to clamp down or nail our movement," he added.

Other unionists say that by proposing these amendments, the minister is shifting the focus from real issues currently besetting the workers movement. These are issues which are more political in nature and which truly deserve the minister's attention.

Recognition of unions

For example, the minister is so far silent on one very important issue - the workers' pleas for recognition of their unions.

Last October, 800 workers picketed outside the ministry to publicise their dissatisfaction regarding the issue. Some unions have waited years to register themselves. Employees of one particular factory suffered transfers as well as unfair dismissals and treatment by their employer because they were persistent in their struggle. The employer instead challenged them by changing the name of the company several times.

Recently, more than a hundred workers were suspended before the Hari Raya holidays for their participation in a national union. The workers were asked to resign as members and start instead an in-house union in their place of work. Such a suggestion, say unionists, are of no use because in-house unions have no political will to do anything as they are "under the wings of the management".

Instead of looking into these areas, the minister is proposing harsher laws and widening the powers of the director-general of the trade unions with regard to union recognition. If the proposed amendments see the light of day, the director-general will have the power to carry out membership verification exercise to ascertain the percentage of workers seeking to register a union.

He or she is also empowered to conduct a secret ballot to ascertain the percentage of workers who wish to be members of the union, although this can only be done provided the employer and workers make a joint request in writing for him or her to do so.

By proposing the amendments, is the ministry trying to buy time to get around from resolving the real issues?

SUSAN LOONE is a member of the malaysiakini team.