KUALA LUMPUR, 4 July 2017:
HSBC recently vindictively threw out of jobs of the senior lowest income group workers, under the guise of Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) and simultaneously hiring new workers to replace them.
Though HSBC claims it is voluntary, on the contrary those who refuse to opt for the VSS are being threatened and intimidated by forcing them to accept the VSS or be subjected to vindictive transfers.
In one incident, the head of Human Resources Department Callister Koh has attempted to mislead an active union representative to accept the VSS.
He has also notified him that times are bad within the bank and the country.
Callister Koh has also gone to the extent to state that many people are talking bad about Malaysia as such suggested to the union representative that the simplest solution is to migrate to Australia or any other country and has claimed that this was the directive of the group.
Such action of a foreign bank is a blatant attempt at undermining the status of the economy and Malaysians at large.
The National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) denounces the suppressive attitude of the multinational HSBC towards its workers. It has taken unilateral decisions by ignoring the fundamental principles of good industrial relations which existed two years ago.
Several exploitative worker-related incidents during the last two years have clearly demonstrated the suppressive and bullying approach of HSBC, contrary to creating a favourable employer-employee working relationship.
In addition, the HSBC has been unilaterally breaching provisions of the legally binding Collective Agreement (CA) between NUBE and HSBC, targeting to victimise the lowest income group of workers.
Consequently, the said active union representative who refused to accept the VSS offer has been issued with a transfer letter to a branch which requires him to travel 60km from his current workstation and his job functions are now being outsourced to a company, the employees of which are functioning full time in the premises of the Bank.
This is a typical form of replacing the organised workers with the unorganised.
Despite the worker’s appeal against the arbitrary transfer on critical health condition among others, the bank is adamant to implement the transfer.
NUBE urges the urgent intervention of the Ministry of Human Resources, Ministry of Finance and the Bank Negara Malaysia to prevent such multinational entities from undermining the economy and the people of Malaysia.
J SOLOMON
General Secretary
National Union of Bank Employees