How strikers saved 150 jobs, but got the sack

 

K Veeriah was 19 years old when he became part of a six-month-long strike, which led to a career as a unionist.

SEBERANG PERAI: Strikes and trade unions go hand in hand – but few know how a six-month-long strike by factory workers ended with the dismissed workers being reinstated and those who went on strike losing their jobs.

But in a remarkable example of worker solidarity, the reinstated workers, who all received back pay, got together to pool the money for equal distribution among all, including the strikers.

Trade unionist K Veeriah, 66, who was among the strikers, related the events of the strike in 1976.

He was then 19, and working as an “office boy” in a steel pipe company in Butterworth, Penang, which employed 300 workers.

The strike, which took place over six months in 1976, began when more than 150 workers were dismissed.

Going out on strike

Veeriah said the company had opposed the workers’ efforts to unionise under the Malaysian Metal Industry Employees Union but eventually relented.

In the midst of negotiations for a collective agreement, the unexpected happened: the company announced that it would lay off half the workers, citing economic downturns.

The union went into action, and Veeriah became involved in his first industrial action.

“For six months, we demonstrated outside the factory throughout the day. The factory got a court order to prohibit us from demonstrating outside the entrance, but we continued in tents on vacant land nearby.

“There were times when the tents got flooded after heavy rain or were blown away by strong winds, but we would fix the tents and stay in them all day,” he said.

Ironic court decision

The striking workers went to the industrial court to challenge the dismissal of their former colleagues, and were represented in court by Mohideen Abdul Kader (now chairman of the Consumer Association of Penang).

The court later ruled that the workers were unfairly dismissed and ordered the factory to reinstate them with back pay. However those who went on strike were found to have breached their employment contract and were dismissed.

“I found it ironic and unfair, as the retrenched workers were reinstated but demonstrating workers were fired,” said Veeriah.

Workers’ solidarity

But the reinstated workers took a radical move of solidarity with their friends who were sacked for being on strike.

“They pooled together the back pay that they got and distributed it equally to all reinstated and retrenched workers. It was a beautiful moment of camaraderie and brotherhood among the workers,” said Veeriah.

He left the company two years later at the age of 21 when he was offered a full-time job by the MIEU as the union’s industrial relations officer for the entire northern region.

He is now the Penang division secretary of the Malaysian Trades Union Congress, the umbrella body of unions in the business world. - FMT