Kula must be doing something right

My face eases into a wry smile every time I read of the brouhaha caused by the recent amendments to the labour laws passed by the Dewan Rakyat.

For the first time in my memory, both the Malaysian Employers’ Federation (MEF) and the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) are on the same page criticising the manner in which the said laws were amended, and for the first time too, both sides are also opposing the substance of the said amendments.

All these years, there has been a clear divide between the employer and employee sides. Ironic the current situation may seem, I find it quite understandable.

For the first time, MEF has had to deal with a human resources minister who does not sing from the same song sheet as in the past; it must have been quite a culture shock.

On the other hand, the labour movement must have felt that its expectations have not been met. These expectations, reasonable or otherwise, may have arisen from the fact that M Kula Segaran had, for most of his professional career, taken the side of the underdog and indeed fought for workers’ rights within our judicial system.

Therein lies the source of the irony; the dichotomy and commonality of traditional rivals.

However, what both sides must realise is that as the human resources minister, Kula has to strike a fair balance between the often competing interests of employers and employees. He has to be even-handed, even if his heartstrings are tugged to one side.

That said, my brothers and sisters in the trade union movement may like to be reminded of an event in the early 1980s when a wholesale revamp of our labour laws was introduced in Parliament.

The MTUC, after days of debate both within and in the national media, decided to march to Parliament to present its memorandum to the government. The MTỤC team was led by its then president PP Narayanan, who was also the president of the International Congress For Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the largest workers group in the world.

The MTUC march was met by the FRU outside the locked gates of Parliament. After much haggling, a small group of 10 to 15 trade unionists was allowed into Parliament to hand over the memorandum to the MPs. All but one of the MPs from the ruling coalition, including Dr Mahathir Mohamad, completely ignored MTUC’s attempt to pass them the memorandum. It was only that gentleman of a politician, Hussein Onn, who politely accepted the memorandum from Narayanan before walking into the Chambers of the House.

It must be noted that the then labour minister was nowhere to be seen.

It would put matters into perspective for current MTUC leaders to juxtapose that scenario with your last march to Parliament House in protest of the minimum wage. You would recall that when you marched to Parliament, Kula came out to meet with you, receive your memorandum and indeed managed to secure a small increase in the minimum wage, although one would agree that the quantum was hardly sufficient.

Against that backdrop, it is unreasonable to describe Kula as “arrogant” or “a traitor” or with such other disparaging terminology. It is common knowledge that all sides now have their “spin doctors” marauding the social media space; mostly with their “shoot first, talk later” modus operandi.

It is, therefore, respectfully suggested that the government, MEF and MTUC, who are indeed partners and not rivals in this arena, take an honest re-look at the amendments which have yet to cross the Dewan Negara threshold and to make or unmake further reasonable provisions.

There is no need for harsh exchanges through the media. Let personal pride and egos take a backseat and let the bigger man reach out with his olive branch for the betterment of all of us.

Finally, it should be appreciated that since both the employer and employee sides are unhappy at not achieving all that each side wanted, Kula must be doing something considered, something balanced and something right.

Watson Peters is a lawyer and an FMT reader.