Organizing Workers through the night

Organizing Workers through the night till the new year
31/12/2005, Cheras Jaya

While most Malaysian were partying away celebrating the new year and as most Malaysian were doing the New Year countdown, Guppy Union members were counting votes to choose their new leadership as well as recruiting new members. Quite unprecedented, the Union leadership led by Koyilvani stood in front of their factory   from as early as 12 noon till 12.30 after midnight, meeting workers, recruiting new members, conducting union elections as well as celebrating the new year. sending shivers to the factory boss on what a year to expect.

Guppy Plastic Workers Union formed 8 years ago by a group of women workers leaders still have a strong hold in the union though many of them were sacked by the company in less than 5 months after the union was formed.  It is a battle for the founders to save the union from crumbling because the factory owners is as determined as ever to crush the union and bury it for good. Intimidation and victimization is part and parcel of the company's tactics all the while. Past incidence of workers being sacked, indimidation etc has been a hindrance as many members shy away from union activities. The workers are suffering in silent. Though the union lasted all these years, it has been ailing as the factory owner has tried to cut the links between the workers and the leadership, most of leadership being already sacked.  

It is not an easy task to organize workers especially when the law of the country protects the rights of the employers to exploit the workers. Even a union approved by government must get recognition from employers to fully function as a union. E.g. Guppy union formed 8 years ago, is still not recognized by the employer. In fact, the office bearers who were sacked by the bosses are still waiting for the Industrial Court judgment!  For Guppy Union, the law is not on their side and the bosses are having free hand in exploiting while the State government agencies watch in dumb silence..    

This year the union had to postpone their annual general meeting twice because of no quorum. Both the employers and the government are just counting days for Guppy Workers Union to close shop but the leadership under Comrade Koyilvani and Rahimah were not willing to give up.  A strategy was planned to revive the union. The last 3 weeks were fully utilized to campaign for new leadership and finally today the strategy worked.  

As the year ended, and a new year born, the Guppy Employers suddenly have lost their smile. A banner at the entrance of the factory was an early reminder. The factory bosses, who normally take their Saturday off, were forced to come in to work, looking glumly.

More than a hundred union members, came in full force. Most of them very happy that the Union is alive and they participated actively.  The AGM - an election took place right in front of the Guppy Plastic factory, in a food stall. 3 shift workers came out to vote during their break hours between 12 pm till 12.30 a.m. Labor activists from Community Development Center and Party Socialist Malaysia based in Kajang were there supporting the Union leadership in organizing the election. The process went on smoothly. About 90 members took part in the voting and it is the highest number of voter turnout compared to previous years. For the moment, the union has been revived. There were happiness surrounding the air and most Union leaders and the activist felt this was their best new year ever celebrated.  

It was indeed a Happy New Year to the Union who worked through the day till midnight sending a clear messages on what a year 2006 is going to be..

Happy New Year to workers of the World and may the working class which produces the wealth of the world enjoy the fruits of its labour. Long Live the Working Class.  

Written By,

Letchimi Devi

CLOSE THE UNION OR I CLOSE THE FACTORY!

CLOSE THE UNION OR I CLOSE THE FACTORY!

GUPPY UNION FACE THEIR BIGGEST ONSLAUGHTER……

Putrajaya, January 30^th 2003

This morning, a few brave Guppy Union members braved the storm, which was brewing in their factory, to make an emergency appeal to the Minister to intervene and resolve their problem. There were around a dozen workers from Guppy Union. The remaining union members have decided to stay back as their employer has warned them not to join the union and stop paying the union dues. He said that if the workers continued with the union, he would have no choice except to close down the factory.

In the last two days, Guppy shareholder and General manager Eng Kiat Guan confronted Union Chairperson Comrade Koyilvani, " to close down the Union or face hardship". Koyilvani who has been sacked by Guppy in 1998 continued to be reelected as the chairperson in the last four years by the 200 union members. In spite of being shut out of the company gates, Koyilvani's mere presence seems to send shock waves to heart of the capitalis, Guppy Industries Management.

The Manager lost his cool and started shouting at every worker the Union leader seems to talk to. Kovilvani has lodged two police report on behalf of the union on both this incidents.

This morning, the union members, after some initial problems, managed to hand over a memorandum to the Chief Secretary of the Human Resource Ministry Datuk Syed Mohamad Abdul Kadir. A number of policemen and Special Branch officers were seen at the scene feeling very excited.

At the dialogue session, Koyilvani along with other comrades raised several issues and pushed for the Minister to intervene. Matters became more tense when Union IRO officer, Comrade V.Selvam shouted and accused the Ministry for being inefficient and complacent in their work.

The Workers then listed their grievances.

·         The entire Union Leadership in two states has been wiped out by the Employer and the Ministry cannot seem to do anything

·         The judgment of the dismissal case involving Union Leader Koyilvani, Secretary Roshamiza and Treasurer Kaniamah which was to be ready one month from the date of the hearing and submission is delayed now for 22 months. Numerous letters to the relevant authorities has not got any respond.

·         The dismissal case of the Deputy Chairperson Rahimah and Asst. Secretary Visaletchumy and other Union leaders in the Prai division has yet to be referred to the Industrial court

·         Other cases involving Union members have yet to be resolved

·         The Union has seeked recognition in two attempts but there is no reply

The list goes on and on. Koyilvani at one point told the Chief Secretary that she is fed-up because the Ministry is so hopeless and powerless. The Union is being busted right in front their eyes and even after having a registration, the union just cannot move.

The Chief Secretary assured them that he will follow-up. After firing their rage at him, the next target was the Industrial Relations Department where the workers went to lodge a violation under Section 8 of the IRA act on the issue of Employer trying to intervene and close down the Union. Here another commotion erupted when the IRA officer requested Union representative to show authorization letter. V.Selvam exploded and challenged the IRD officer to show where it is stated that he must show an authorization letter. Here once again the Industrial Relations Officer came under heavy fire for not showing urgency in solving the issue.

In what seems to be tough day, the union members walked down the office carrying a banner saying that the Minister must intervene. There was no press to capture this occasion. They came down having fulfilled their task. Even the great monuments and scenic view of Putrajaya failed to soothe the workers disappointment and anger today.

Among one line of argument of the employer is, " I give you'll wages but why do you give RM 3 to the union every month". Why is the Employer so hard on he Union.

The Factory Owners have sacked the Union leaders, didn't recognize the Union and now are threatening to shut down the factory if the Union exist. The very action of the owners clearly demonstrates that they are really terrified with the existence of a Union.

The Union will see tougher days in the next few weeks but they have already won the battle of the hearts. Their employer will never sleep peacefully again knowing the Union is still alive and kicking.

S. Arutchelvan

MORE THAN 30 WORKERS AT GUPPY GET THE SACK !

Cheras Jaya, 29^th. June 2001

More than 30 workers who are above the age of fifty got a rude shock when their employer; Guppy Plastic Industries Sdn. Bhd. gave them a 24 hours termination notice. The notice was handed to them by the Human Resource Manager, Mr. Sivananthan who also gave each worker some money which he claimed as gratitude allowance.

By the way, the workers who had been working there, some of them for more than twenty years did not feel much gratitude about this whole incident. Most of them were furious and have seen the notice as a declaration of war by the employer.

What was even more annoying was the workers were also told to come back to work on the 9^th. July as they will be then offered a contract job. Union chairperson, Comrade Koyilvani said this is the employer's dirty tactics to make them contract workers. She said that the union would consider this an unlawful dismissal and take up the issue. By offering them contract job, it is also clear that the company is not facing any financial crisis but rather is a move to further maximize profit at the expense of the workers welfare.

Comrade Letchimi Dewi, Community Development Centre (CDC) coordinator met several affected workers at the movement office at Kajang. She said that the fifty years retirement age was below the normal standard and in this case, the employer has a different retirement age for men and women workers. This she said the is a gross violation to Article 8 of the Federal Constitution which says that everyone is equal.

Some workers attribute the companies action is to have young workers who can work like machines so that the company can maintain its ISO standards. The Union is not surprised with the company's attitude. The Employers have a very bad Industrial record as they have not yet recognized the union and have sacked the three principal office bearers of the union.

       

As an immediate action, the union will be submitting a protest letter asking the employer to reinstate all the workers. Failing which, the union along with the workers will be planning more drastic actions. Workers who are not affected by this action are also very annoyed with this move and have agreed to stand by their sacked comrades to seek justice.

S. Arutchelvan

Harassment at Guppy Union

ALL OUT ATTACK ON GUPPY UNION! 5 OUT OF 6 KEY LEADERS FACE THE SACK!

• The Chairperson - sacked and awaiting decision from the Industrial Court.
• Vice Chairperson - Suspended from work since 25th. of August 2001
• Secretary - sacked and awaiting decision from the Industrial Court.
• Treasurer - sacked and awaiting decision from the Industrial Court.
• Assitant Treasurer - suspended from work since 25th. of August 2001.

This is the current status of the Guppy Plastic Industries Sdn. Bhd. Workers Union.

The union which is led by a strong all women team was registered officially on the 27th April 1998 with the help of some comrades from the Community Development Centre (CDC). Just two months after that, the entire Union Protem committee was suspended. Subsequently, three key office bearers- Koyilvani (chairperson), Roshamiza (Secretary) and Kanniamah (Treasurer) was sacked. This did not deter the young workers from continuing. The Union soon gained strength and soon had a membership of 250 members (more than 3/4). The Union then applied for recognition from the Factory Owners.

The Company determined never to have a Union looking upon them, then declared that they have another have another factory in Prai, Pulau Pinag and therefore they cannot give recognition to the union because the Union does not have a majority if both these factory's workers are taken into account. This revelation frustrated the workers and their union. The workers felt that they formed the union to represent their interest in the main company in Cheras Jaya, Selangor and was not aware of the other factory in Prai, Penang.

Slowly but surely the Union started to make inroads into the Prai factory. In spite of numerous threats from the factory owners, the Union started to have meetings and slowly got more workers in Prai factory to join the Union. Slowly membership started to increase in Prai. In Cheras Jaya, the Union also had several small victories.

The owners aware of the threat of the growing Union attempted several dirty tactics to paralyze the Union. Threats and negative propaganda was used to deter union activities.

In recent months, the Union championed the case 12 women who were victimized because they reached the age of 50. The owners gave then a 24-hour sack. The Union fought and the case has been referred to the Industrial Relations Department. With the sacking of the three main office bearers in 1998, the Union continued to function under the able leadership of Rahiman Mansor - The Vice Chairperson and Visaletchumy (Asst. Treasurer).

On the 25th. of August 2001, the duo was suspended because the factory owners claimed that both of them have manipulated a fund for an injured worker initiated by the Employer. The Factory manager also tried unsuccessfully to get the duo arrested by the police for cheating. The police after making the investigation found that there was no cheating involved and the case was closed. In fact the Union initiated the fund for the injured workers and the employer sabotaged this fund. After failing to get the two remaining Union leaders arrested, the Owners have now suspended them.

The factory Owners seem to go for an all out attack on the Union. The Union currently with 5 out of the 6 office bearers outside are continuing their struggle. They have been fighting every issue tooth to nail. The Factory owners are baffled with this kind of strength. When the Union was started two years ago, not even the Trade Union registrar was optimistic with the union because the Union members seem so inexperienced and that they were all women. Today, to their credit, the Industrial Relations Department officers have saluted their courage because they have yet to see a Union with so much fighting spirit. Koyilvani, the sacked Chairperson had this to say, " We are not like the Employers, this work is our life and our family depends on this. The employers have offered me money so that I will leave this struggle, but for me and the rest, the Union is the protector of the working class and I cannot betray the workers, we have no choice but to fight on "

Note - CDC is a front organisation of PSM

GUPPY UNION GET HARRASED AGAIN!

GUPPY UNION GET HARRASED AGAIN!

Cheras Jaya, Monday, 27th. November 2000

Today two office bearers of the Guppy union, Zaidah and Visalatchy were told

to attend a domestic Inquiry. The domestic Inquiry was called after the

Company- Guppy Plastic Industries Sdn. Bhd. were unhappy of the reasons

given by the workers in respond to a show cause letter.

The workers received show cause letters last week alleging they did not

attend work without permission. Though both the union members have notified

the company about their absence, yet they were still called for an Inquiry.

It is no secret that the workers were called up because they held important

position in the union and the company was not very comfortable with this.

They wanted to punish them for attending court cases of fellow union members

who were sacked.

In 1998, the company sacked three key office bearers of the union. The three

were sacked immediately after the Company knew that they were the union

leaders. The three sacked were Chairperson Koyilvani, Secretary Roshamiza

and Treasurer, Kanniamah. The three were sacked without a Domestic Inquiry

being called. Their case is now pending in the Industrial Court. The company

dreamed that with the sacking of the three, the union would eventually die

off. That didn't happen and in-fact the 200 odd union members elected the

three again to their respective positions.

Today at the companies gates, another drama unfolded. The Guard with the

instruction from the company refused to allow the Union members, witnesses

and the Union IRO officer to enter. The company cited that in a domestic

inquiry, only current workers could attend. A police petrol car also came

when were called by the company. The police disappeared quite fast after

knowing that there is no issue for their presence. The accused when met the

Company officers briefly, were told and reminded that their wages is being

paid by the company and they should only listen to the company. Then the

Domestic Inquiry was postponed indefinitely. The Union then lodged a report

at the Industrial Relations Department on the way the enquiry was planned

and questioned the whole notion of a due inquiry as stated by the law.

The workers of Guppy Union are proud to have an all women office bearers to

run the union. Since the formation of the union, a number of issues such as

transport allowance, work safety and wages have improved. The company do not

want to give recognition to the union and is trying very hard to get the

union closed. The company's efforts have failed so far. The three sacked

officer bearers were offered numerous settlements as long as they don't come

back to work. The three have strongly and principally stated that they want

to be back because they have still a lot of unfinished work to build the

union.