IT is up the airline workers to defend their rights as the industry leaders seem to be taking the easy way out during the economic downturn.
“Our airline operators seem to be more interested in slashing workforce size than trying their best to keep looking into the latter’s survival.
“They’re not working hard enough to keep their staff, judging from the recent cases of retrenchment,” National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia (Nufam) told FocusM.
Last month, AirAsia Bhd and AirAsia X Bhd announced that it would retrench 10% of their 24,000 employees. This was after the low-cost carrier had already laid off more than 2,500 of its staff in June due to the pandemic.
In Oct, Malindo Air laid off 2,000 of its staff. That accounts for more than half of its 3,200 strong workforce.
The Nufam leader, who claimed anonymity, said that while other international airlines are pressing their respective Governments to do more for them, local airliners seemed to meek in its approach.
“We have been voicing out for these workers but if airlines themselves are not doing the same, then they are deemed to be too weak and hopeless,” he said.
The Nufam leader said that that many former employees are now queuing up at the Labour Department to file complaints, hoping they will get some respite over their predicament.
He added that many airliners still owe them backdates salaries and the former employees are seeing a bleak future ahead.
“The complaints have been filed but it remains to be seen on how the Labour Department or the Industrial Relations Department will handle the massive amount of cases.
“And we wonder how airliners will settle the dues owed to their former staff. These former workers now have no money and jobs, hoping for the Government to do something to help them,” he said.
The Nufam leader said that his union have sent a memorandum to Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, hoping the latter would provide a solution to the situation.
Offering ideas, he urged the Government to invest more on job protection for workers, projecting that the economic situation may not improve fast enough next year.
“That is why we need everyone, including the Government, to plan ahead on how to pull through this tough situation.
“Unions across the globe have been pushing their Governments to provide better job security and we must do the same here,” he said.
While appreciating the Government’s move to invest in reskilling and upskilling workers under Budget 2021, he said there is also a need to stop businesses to resorting to retrenchment as an easy way out.
“And people need jobs fast as they need to survive, as reskilling and upskilling workers will take time,” he said. – Nov 21, 2020.
