| April 23, 2013 |
Sabah Commercial Bank’s Association (SCBA) and Sabah Banking Employees’ Union (SBEU) successfully concluded their collective agreement and the signing ceremony were held in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah on 23 April 2013.
Mr. Liew Kui Choi, President, SCBA together with Mr. Maturin Sibi, Secretary, SCBA represented the Association while Ms. Margaret Chin, President SBEU and Ms. Catherin Jikunan, General Secretary, SBEU signed on behalf of the Union.
The signing was witnessed by the President of Malayan Commercial Banks’ Association, Puan Nora Manaf and the Director of Industrial Relations, Sabah, Puan Moryati Bte Othman @ Abdullah. Also present were Encik Awang Ali Ragi, Chairman of MTUC Sabah and En. Mohammed Tonsrusdi Tonamli, representative from Bank Negara Malaysia, senior management staff from head offices of member banks, branch managers and officials and representatives from the Union.
This is the 13th collective agreement signed between the two parties. The duration of the collective agreement is for 3 years from 2012 to 2014. Under the collective agreement, about 1700 employees who are in the clerical and non-clerical categories employed by 13 member banks of SCBA would benefit from the improved terms and conditions of employment. The salary adjustment granted to every employee would be 10% (subject to reaching the maximum salary point) whilst the starting salary for non-clerical and clerical employees has also increased by 18.3% and 12% respectively. Besides the basic monthly salary, banks are also paying the employees the Sabah Region Allowance at the rates equivalent to 12.5% – 25% of the employee’s basic salary. Similarly, under the new collective agreement, almost all existing rates for the various allowances have also been adjusted upward by about 8% to 11%.
In her speech, Puan Moryati, Director of Industrial Relations commended the negotiating parties from both the Association and the Union for their willingness and ability to settle the collective bargaining on their own in an amicable manner.
The signing of the collective agreement with SBEU Sabah represents another major milestone achieved by the banks, as they have already in January and February this same year (2013) concluded amicably 2 collective agreements each with the Association of Bank Officers (ABOM) and Sarawak Bank Employees’ Union (SBEU Sarawak). The 3 collective agreements taken together, cover about 8,000 employees in the banking industry.