Nufam says MAS Act violates existing employment laws

PETALING JAYA: The National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia (Nufam) is demanding for "special" clauses to be removed from the MAS Act as it violates existing Trade Union and Employment laws.
Nufam in a statement yesterday said it is opposing to the MAS Act because it will also take away the rights of the Unions to represent the employees in the Industrial court.
The union body is crying foul against the manner the MAS Act was swiftly passed, adding that no party should be allowed to enact a law which cancel out existing laws, which work to safeguard the interests of employers and employees.
Nufam Secretary-General Mohd Akram Osman said Malaysia's existing employment laws namely the Employment Act 1955 - Section 60J, was enacted to benefit both employers and employees but noted that the new MAS Act will instantly "kill" the existing clauses for the employees.
Nufam said that it calls upon Khazanah to remove all clauses which jeopardize the employee's position.
"They cannot simply implement something without any consultation with our Union. There are 3,500 crew members in MAS and we have learnt almost 700 or more might be laid off soon," Mohd Akram said.
He said Khazanah Nasional is setting wrong precedent and urged the Human Resources Minister to step in immediately to settle the matter.
"If Khazanah wishes to outrun the existing laws, they must come to the table to discuss settlement with the Union and the Ministry of Human Resource. ‎They can't simply implement an Act to undo everything," he said.
Nufam said it will file a complaint with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, seeking his intervention.