Malayan Commercial Banks’ Association expresses great concern and disappointment over the announcement by the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) that it will air its grievances and exert its demands by picketing at our member bank outlets in Kuala Lumpur on 6.4.2013 (Saturday).

Over the past few months, NUBE had been conducting a series of picketing at several bank offices in various states, with total disregard to its action in causing grave inconvenience to the public and bank customers over issues which could be best resolved only if the Union has chose to raise the issues by using and following through the dispute resolution mechanisms and procedures, as provided both by the collective agreement and the laws of the country.

The Association and our member banks would be ever willing and ready to engage the Union through proper channel and etiquette though admittedly, sometimes member banks do find it insurmountable to satisfy certain union demands, such as demanding for 80 months bonus and demanding for salary adjustment by over 50%.

The Association is equally perturbed by the various allegations, which are riddled with distortions, made against our member banks as reported in the media, despite clarification already provided by member banks at meetings either with the staff concerned, or with the Union, or both.  The Association believes that the distortion was also manifested in the actual membership representation of the Union as stated in the media reports.

As some of the issues which the Union raised have already been referred to the Court for adjudication, the Association is not at liberty to comment on these cases.

It is highly inaccurate and misconceived to even imply that banking employees are being exploited and their welfare, not taken care of. Indeed, the Association takes pride to maintain that banking employees, particularly the non-clerical and clerical staff who come under the scope of representation of NUBE, have always enjoyed  competitive total remuneration and benefits package as compared to other industries.

The Association wishes to highlight that in many of the picketing conducted against its member banks, it was observed that even non-employees of the banks concerned were involved. This is a gross violation of the Industrial Relations Act, 1967. The offence is punishable and on conviction, the offender could be liable to imprisonment or to a fine, or to both. While the Association and its member banks respect the right of unions to conduct industrial actions in accordance of the laws, we would like to advise potential participants to illegal pickets to pay heed to the laws and do not be misled and misguided.

At the same time, the Association urges NUBE to immediately cease such activities which certainly do not help to promote industrial peace and harmony, not to mention the obvious detrimental effect of its disruptive action on the banks, employees and the public at large. We also urge the relevant authorities to intervene and prevent the occurrence of any form of illegal picketing which do not conform to the laws of the country and take the necessary and firm action against those who have flouted the laws.

Statement issued by

Executive Committee of Malayan Commercial Banks’ Association

Sarawak Commercial Banks’ Association (SCBA) successfully concluded the 13^th Collective Agreement with Sarawak Bank Employees’ Union (SBEU) on 28.2.2013. The official signing ceremony was held at Pullman Hotel, Kuching Sarawak on 22 March 2013.

The new Collective Agreement will cover the period from 1.1.2012 to 31.12.2014.

Close to 2,000 employees in the clerical and non-clerical grades who are employed in 13 member banks of SCBA in Sarawak would benefit from this Collective Agreement with a salary adjustment of 10% . In addition, for agreeing to enlarge their job scope, the non-clerical employees would enjoy a further salary adjustment of 3%, whereas the clerical employees will be paid an ex-gratia equivalent to 2% x 12 based on their December salary for 3 years, for period 2012 to 2014. SCBA has also agreed to grant one annual increment for employees who have reached their maximum pay range. Taken together, certain employees may enjoy close to 17% adjustment to their annual basic pay, not to mention the revision in Sarawak Allowance which would take retrospective effect from 1.1.2012.

Rates for other monetary benefits and allowances were also similarly reviewed and where appropriate, adjusted in line with the above increase.

SCBA also agreed to extend the retirement age of employees from 55 years to 60 years, subject to specified medical conditions.

At the signing ceremony, Encik Mohd Daud Abdul Hamid, President, SCBA and Encik Mohammad Azman Bin Abdul Hamid, Secretary, SCBA represented the Association. Puan Hadiah Leen, President, SBEU and Mr. Law Kiat Min, General Secretary, SBEU signed on behalf of the Union.  Puan Nora Manaf, President,  Malayan Commercial Banks’ Association and Encik August Buma, Director of Labor, Sarawak witnessed the signing ceremony. In their respective speech, all commended the negotiating teams for their professional conduct and their ability to come the Collective Agreement amicably. Special mention was made to acknowledge the progressive stand taken by the Union in promoting  and accepting value-add changes which would mutually benefit both the banks and the employees.

Among the Guests-of-Honor who attend this auspicious occasion were Puan Jamilah Putit, Director, Trade Union Department, Sarawak, Heads of HR, namely Puan Nor Rozita Nordin of Affin Bank,  Puan Hamidah Naziadin of CIMB, Mr. Vincent C J Ho of HSBC Bank, Ms. Marlene Goh of Public Bank, Heads of IR of member banks, EXCO members of SCBA and SBEU and a great number of Inter-Relations Committee members from various banks and media personnel.

Malayan Commercial Banks’ Association (MCBA) successfully concluded the collective agreement with the Association of Bank Officers (ABOM). The signing ceremony was held at the Renaissance Hotel in Kuala Lumpur on 18 January 2013.

This is the 11^th successive collective agreement signed between the parties for the period 2012-2014.

With the conclusion of the collective agreement, more than five thousand officers employed by 10 member banks of MCBA would receive a salary adjustment at 10% across the board with retrospective effect from 1.1.2012, besides the various enhancements made to other monetary and fringe benefits.

At the signing ceremony, MCBA was represented by its President, Puan Nora Manaf and Executive Director, Mr. YY Lam while ABOM was represented also by its President, Encik Wan Shaharuddin Shah Ismail and General Scretary, Mr. Ng Choo Seong. The Guest-of-Honor, Puan Noor Azian binti Jamaludin, Ketua Penolong Pengarah from the Ministry of Human Resources, witnessed the signing of the MCBA/ABOM collective agreement. The signed collective agreement would be recorded as a Consent Award by the Industrial Court.

Puan Nora Manaf, President of MCBA in her speech, commended the negotiating teams from both the parties for being able to bring the negotiation to an amicable closure within a comparatively shorter time. She also recorded her appreciation to the Union’s General Secretary, Mr. Ng Choo Seong and his negotiating team for consistently demonstrating professional conduct during the negotiation. Among other things, she highlighted that the usefulness of a collective agreement should not be measured solely in terms of how much the workers gain in pay and benefits, or how much the employers can save. The real measure of success is the extent to which the collective agreement has been designed to help improve organization productivity and performance which in turn serves to enhance future earning and proper growth of both the organization and employees. In her closing remarks, she also reminded the parties to remain risk-aware, productive and effective to deal with the challenges ahead in view of the uncertainty in the global economic outlook.

Among the Guests-of-Honor who attended the signing ceremony was Ms. Chuah Mei Lin, Executive Director of the Association of Banks in Malaysia and Mr. Sivagnanam Seenithamy, former Executive Director of MCBA. They were joined by a number of Heads of Human Resources from member banks, including Puan Nor Rozita Nordin, Affin Bank, Nik Ilyana Mohamed,Deutsche Bank, Puan Roselaini Faiz, Hong Leong Bank, other officials from the Ministry of Human Resources, EXCO members from both MCBA and ABOM, together with many human resources practitioners from member banks.

We are pleased to inform that some features in the MCBA website have been enhanced to improve reader-friendliness and operational efficiency. For example, member banks can now mass register or create their selected employees to access the website (Members’ Area). If you are the Master User or User accorded with special role/access to some f the functionalities provided by the website, we invite you to explore the differences…

Please be guided by the circular issued by MEF on the above matter. The relevant contents of MEF’s circular are reproduced below as follows:

” The Minimum Wages Order 2012 will come into operation on 1 January 2013 for employer who employs more than 5 employees and regardless of the number of employee employed, an employer who carries out a professional activity classified under Malaysia Standard Classification of Occupations (MASCO). The Order will come into operation on 1 July 2013 for an employer who employs 5 employees or less other than an employer carrying out professional activity classified under MASCO.

2.        In this connection, the National Wages Consultative Council (NWCC) has just issued Guidelines on the Implementation of the National Minimum Wages Order 2012 (in Bahasa Malaysia). Attached is the translated version of the Guidelines in English. Please be informed that the translation of the Guidelines to English is done by MEF and not officially translated by NWCC. The original version in Bahasa Malaysia can be downloaded from the Ministry of Human Resources website i.e. http://www.mohr.gov.my.

3.        Members are advised to go through these Guidelines to enable them to implement the National Minimum Wages before the Order come into operation. ”

Attachment: NWCC_Guidelines

For details of the Bill, please sign on to the Members Page.

On 28 May 2012, the Industrial Court has handed down its Award no. 683 of 2012 between NUBE and a member bank.

Those HR personnel who are responsible to draft letters of appointment should take note of the judgement lest they make the same unintentional omission which is considered non-compliance of the collective agreements which banks may have with the unions.

Please go to the “News” or “Disputes” tabs in the Members Page for details.