| March 8, 2016 | ||
| 10:00 am |
MCBA is organizing a half-day learning program entitled : Managing Safety and Health in Banking Industry for staff of member banks. The program will be held on 08.03.2016 at Akademi Etiqa. Nominations will be closed on 29.02.2016.
| December 4, 2015 | ||
| 6:30 pm | to | 8:30 pm |
On 4 December 2015, MCBA and ABOM successfully held its 19th official CA signing ceremony for the period 2015 to 2017 at Renaissance Hotel, KL.
| November 16, 2015 | ||
| 7:00 am |
Following the successfully conclusion of the collective agreement with SBEU Sarawak and NUBE, SCBA Sabah finally also inked the collective agreement with SBEU Sabah on 13 November 2015. About 1,500 employees in the non-clerical and clerical grades employed by 13 member banks of SCBA would benefit from the collective agreement in terms of salary adjustment and enhancement of other employment benefits.
EXCO members of both SCBA and SBEU Sabah were present to witness the signing of the collective agreement at CIMB Service Centre at Api-Api in Kota Kinabalu.
| November 4, 2015 | ||
| 7:00 am |
On 3 November 2015, MCBA and NUBE successfully concluded and signed the 17th Collective Agreement for the period 2015 to 2017 at a Signing Ceremony held at Hilton Hotel, KL.
Apart from upward revision of a number of benefits, about twenty three thousand employees in the non-clerical and clerical grade employed by 21 member banks of MCBA will benefit in term of salary adjustment of at least 10% and above.
The signing ceremony was witnessed by the Chairman of The Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM), YB Datuk Abdul Farid Alias in the presence of a number of other dignitaries, which included Mr. Fong Khei Phor, Director General of Industrial Relations, Ministry of Human Resources, Ms. Chuah Mei Lin, Executive Director of ABM, Encik Zaini bin Yaacob, Director of IR Department, KL/Selangor, Mr. N. Gopal Kishnam, Secretary General of MTUC and Mr. Mohamed Shafie, President, UNI-MLC.
| October 31, 2015 | ||
| 7:00 am |
SCBA Sarawak and SBEU Sarawak successfully concluded the 14th Collective Agreement for the period 2015 to 2017. About 1,700 employees in the non-clerical and clerical positions employed by 13 member banks of SCBA will benefit from the salary revision provided under the collective agreement.
The signing ceremony was held on 30 October 2015 at Pullman Hotel, witnessed by the President of MCBA, Puan Nora Manaf. The ceremony was well attended by representatives from both SCBA and SBEU. A number of Heads of Human Resources and Heads of Industrial Relations were also present to grace the occasion. Mr. Phillip Sangkan, State Director of Social Security Organization, Ministry of Human Resources was among the invited dignitaries.
MCBA successfully held its Annual General Meeting at Shangri-la Hotel, KL on 24 August 2015.
The President of MCBA, Puan Nora Manaf who is also the Group Chief Human Capital Officer of Maybank kicked off the function by delivering her welcoming speech, which participants described it as very comprehensive and insightful as she touched on numerous topical issues and highlighted major macro developments that would impact on member banks, particularly from an industrial relations perspective.
Apart from giving an update and on the challenges of the on-going collective bargaining with the four unions, namely ABOM, NUBE, SBEU Sabah and SBEU Sarawak, she also highlighted the challenges facing the nation and the banking industry in particular arising from the various forces which had and continued to affect adversely the outlook of the economy. Nevertheless, she reminded banks that despite the fact that banks would not be in the position to sustain the kind of wage adjustment and increase which banks had been according under the collective agreements in previous years, banks have a duty to ensure that contributing employees would continue to be fairly compensated financially so that they could continue to lead a decent living for themselves and for their family that befitted their contribution.
The President also reminded member banks to pay attention to two unfolding major developments that might have far reaching and long term implications on industrial relations and human resource management and development in the country. Specifically, she was referring to the possible finalization of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, or TPPA by the end of 2015 where the Agreement would incorporate an important chapter on labour.
The second development she spoke on was on the potential effect from the implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) targeted by end of 2015.
The President expressed her appreciation to all EXCO member banks, their nominees and staff of MCBA for their unwavering commitment and contributions to the Association and hope that member banks would continue to provide support.
The 53rd AGM was well attended and represented by member banks with forty over participants. Among them include Puan Nor Rozita Nordin, Chief Human Resource Officer of Affin Bank, Puan Sharifah Sheikha Bt Syed Tahir, Asst. General Manager, HR of Bank Islam, Mr. Cheah Syn Yeam, Country Head, HR of OCBC Bank, Mr. Lawrence Wong, VP HR of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Puan Rosemawarni Bt Abdul Rahman, Director HR of Public Bank, Ms. Shareen Tan, Head HR of Bank of Nova Scotia and EXCO members.
The full version of the President’s speech can be viewed in the Members’ Area.
Federal Court decision on dismissal for illegal picketing
The Federal Court yesterday (20.10.2014) dismissed with costs the appeal of nine employees and upheld the Court of Appeal judgment that they were all dismissed for cause for participating in an unlawful picket.
This dispute traced back to pickets conducted by NUBE outside the premises of (the then) Bangunan BCB, Jalan Tun Perak over several days in October 2003.
Arising out of the above, Bumiputra-Commerce Bank Berhad (now known as CIMB Bank Berhad after the merger) took disciplinary action against those staff who were involved for participating in unlawful picketing and also for conducting themselves in a manner which led to disruption to the bank’s business and operations, and the same had caused disrepute to the Bank’s image. Several employees were sacked on 27.4.2004 after due enquiry.
The dispute over their dismissal was referred to the Industrial Court. In its Award no. 1266 of 2009 dated 27.10.2009, the Industrial Court upheld the dismissal of nine of the ten claimants, including the dismissal of J Solomon, General Secretary, NUBE.
The claimants subsequently applied for Judicial Review to quash the Award of the Industrial Court. On 21.10.2010, the High Court heard the matter and dismissed the application. Among other things, the High Court Judge remarked that “The Industrial Court made the award after taking into account the misconduct and also the nature of the industry i.e. the banking industry. It was of the view that the punishment of dismissal was appropriate in the circumstances..”
The matter was referred to the Court of Appeal in February 2011. In November 2011, the Court of Appeal handed down its judgment, dismissing the appeal.
Subsequently, the Federal Court heard the appeal in October 2013 and had yesterday delivered its judgment, dismissing the appeal with cost.
For details, please refer to the attached Judgment and newspaper report below:
http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/10/27/Bank-picket-sacking-lawful/
This case refers to the dispute between Sarawak Commercial Banks’ Association (SCBA) and Sarawak Bank Employees’ Union (SBEU) over the interpretation of a MOU signed between the 2 parties prior to the conclusion of the 12th Collective Agreement for period 2009-2011. The gist of the MOU is that SBEU Sarawak would conclude the collective agreement with SCBA Sarawak but if the respective Associations in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah later conclude the collective agreements with the trade unions representing employees in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah respectively with higher benefits, then SCBA Sarawak shall extend the same to SBEU Sarawak. SBEU Sarawak alleged that SCBA Sarawak did not honour the MOU, which the Association denied as those items in dispute were not “higher” benefits.
The Industrial Court adjudicated on this dispute (which was then narrowed down to 4 items, namely, salary range/bonus, annual increment, COLA and the 2% additional adjustment given to SBEU, Sabah) and by majority decision, ruled in favor of SCBA Sarawak.
Not satisfied, SBEU Sarawak then commenced Judicial Review proceedings to quash the decision of the Industrial Court. The High Court heard the submissions on 20.2.2013 and dismissed the Application with costs of RM5,000. The Union then appealed to the Court of Appeal.
The Court of Appeal heard the matter on 29.9.2014 and dismissed the Union’s appeal with costs of RM5,000.
| November 30, -0001 | ||
| 12:00 am | ||
| October 2, 2014 |
MCBA is organizing a one-day learning program entitled “Alignment on Human Resource Practices in light of GST” on 2 October 2014. The aim of this program is to impart to participants the knowledge on GST and its implications on the provision of staff benefits.
Invitation is extended to all member banks. For those who are interested to attend, please register your nomination via the “Learning Academy” tab on our website (Members’ Area”) on or before 12.9.2014. Details of the program are also posted on the said web page.
Malayan Commercial Banks’ Association (MCBA) successfully concluded its 52nd Annual General Meeting on 21 August 2014 which was held at Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel.
The highlights of the meeting included the welcoming speech of the President of MCBA, Puan Nora Manaf, who is also the Head of Group Human Capital, Maybank and the election of Executive Committee members for the period 2014/2016.
In her opening speech, Puan Nora highlighted that the financial sector plays a pivotal role under the National Economic Transformation Programme and in helping the nation to achieve its vision to be a high-income economy and developed nation by 2020. She reminded member banks of the need to therefore stay focused, be diligent and undeterred as banks progress forward. She went on to share some vital economic statistics and reports that benchmarked Malaysia to other regions. She also singled out productivity being a key driver to a high economy and quoted the Malaysia Productivity Centre Annual Report 2013/2014 which indicated that while Malaysia exceeded some of the developed countries in terms of labor productivity growth, but our country lagged behind some developing Asian peers, such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, India and China.
Touching on the industrial relations landscape, she commended MCBA, member banks and NUBE for having concluded the collective agreement amicably. She highlighted that the total package offered under the renewed collective agreement remains highly competitive as compared to other industries.
She reiterated that the Association recognizes and respects the rights of unions to seek redress over legitimate grievances including taking industrial actions in accordance with the laws. She nevertheless shared her worrying observation that the element of race and religion were brought into play during industrial actions namely at pickets. She cautioned that this trend is unhealthy, divisive and dangerous which should never be part of the equation in the conduct of industrial relations. In addition, she also observed that on many occasions, outsiders and non-employees were seen as part of the crowd in pickets. She hoped all parties involved including the enforcement agencies do step up surveillance to prevent outsiders from tarnishing the image of all concerned.
The full text of the President’s speech can be accessed in the Members’ Area of the MCBA Website.
All the existing Executive Committee members were unanimously re-elected for another 2-year term for period 2014- 2016. They are (by alphabetical order) Affin Bank, CIMB Bank, Hong Leong Bank, Maybank, Standard Chartered Bank and RHB Bank.
Close to forty representatives from member banks attended the function, which ended with a get-together lunch.