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2 May, 2001It is hoped that the 9th Collective Agreement between Malaysia's EIWU and the company will be settled soon.
MALAYSIA: After several months of stalled bargaining talks between the IMF-affiliated Electrical Industry Workers' Union and the Matsushita Air-Conditioning Group of Companies, negotiations for the 9th MACG Collective Agreement are set to reconvene today, May 3, at the EIWU headquarters in Subang Jaya.
Upon hearing the news that the company had consented to resume talks with the union to settle an agreement, the IMF's regional representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, P. Arunasalam, said it was "certainly a step in the right direction and we earnestly hope the collective agreement would be amicably concluded soon."
Negotiations came to a halt when the company called a deadlock in the talks, and the minister of human resources referred the dispute to the Industrial Court for arbitration. The main bargaining issue opposed by the EIWU was the company's attempt to radically alter the conditions of employment for the more than 6,000 MACG workers. The company had tried to change the shift system and to withdraw checkoff, an unprecedented move in the otherwise positive relationship of over 20-25 years between the EIWU and MACG. The EIWU has concluded eight collective agreements with the company up to now.
Upon hearing the news that the company had consented to resume talks with the union to settle an agreement, the IMF's regional representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, P. Arunasalam, said it was "certainly a step in the right direction and we earnestly hope the collective agreement would be amicably concluded soon."
Negotiations came to a halt when the company called a deadlock in the talks, and the minister of human resources referred the dispute to the Industrial Court for arbitration. The main bargaining issue opposed by the EIWU was the company's attempt to radically alter the conditions of employment for the more than 6,000 MACG workers. The company had tried to change the shift system and to withdraw checkoff, an unprecedented move in the otherwise positive relationship of over 20-25 years between the EIWU and MACG. The EIWU has concluded eight collective agreements with the company up to now.