AS the spectacle of a debacle that is the HRD Corp scandal is unravelling, the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) has urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to suspend Human Resource Minister Steven Sim Chee Keong for his abysmal performance in discharging his duties.
Going by its experience dealing with the DAP Bukit Mertajam MP, NUBE said it “could predict with a reasonable degree of confidence” that the HR Minister will ultimately “be a part of the problem, not a part of the solution, in the unfolding HRD Corp debacle”.
“We will even go so far as to predict that under his incompetent, reckless and perhaps even corrupt watch, the HRD Corp debacle is not going to be the last or biggest scandal that we are going to see under his administration,” the union of 15,000-strong clerical and non-clerical employees of financial institutions in Peninsular Malaysia pointed out in a statement.
“Considering his contemptuous, reckless and ignorant manner of handling the issue that NUBE has with the management of the banks, it comes as no surprise to NUBE that the HR Minister has, is and will likely continue to complicate and worsen the HRD Corp scandal through his participation.”
Added the union: “NUBE has already lodged multiple police reports against Sim to protest against his reckless, incompetent and perhaps even corrupt manner of handling his responsibility as the HR Minister.”
Deliberating on Sim’s mismanagement, NUBE said it has been on the receiving end of the HR Minister’s incompetence whereby his mishandling of the Festival Aid One Month Salary issue “has caused 60,000 Malaysian workers and their families to suffer”.
“Furthermore, the minister has hastily referred a Collective Agreement (CA) to the Industrial Court, claiming a deadlock,” revealed NUBE.
Mintak je SPRM siasat terus, YB tkda apa2 nak sorok. Jalan teruihh bagi 💯 kerjasama. https://t.co/FB6zTLpbyb
— Siti_Sab (@Siti_Sab) July 7, 2024
“In reality, the negotiation for the CA between NUBE and the management of the banks had not even commenced. How can a negotiation which has not even begun be deemed a deadlock by the minister?”
Instead of following due processes and long-established procedures to mediate and resolve the issue that NUBE has with the management of the banks in a rational and confidence-inspiring manner, the union claimed that “the HR Minister has bungled the entire process”.
“His suspicious actions have forced NUBE to entertain the idea that he might be deliberately conspiring with the management of the banks to work against the rights and livelihood of the banking worker,” added NUBE. – July 11, 2024
