Malaysia’s National Union of Employees in Companies Manufacturing Rubber Products (NUECMRP) is calling on Toyo Tyre Malaysia to respect the first secret ballot result and recognise them as a negotiating partner.
Toyo Tyre Malaysia, a subsidiary of Japanese Toyo Tires Group, has been discriminating against IndustriALL affiliate NUECMRP since the union sent a request of recognition in April 2014. An in-house union was quickly set up and recognised by the company.
With the intervention of the Industrial Relations Department, NUECMRP won the first secret ballot and the support of 52 per cent of the workers. In accordance with the law, the minister of human resources granted the recognition to NUECMRP.
Denying the recognition, Toyo Tyre applied for a judicial review to challenge the validity of the name list of workers used in the secret ballot, which had been provided by the company itself. After a long legal battle, the court overturned the minister’s decision and ordered a new secret ballot.
Abdullah Hussaini Bin Mohd Salleh, NUECMRP general secretary, says that in the days leading up to the second polling date on 18 August, the company allowed the in-house union to put up banners calling for the rejection of NUECMRP, workers were intimidated, and the vote was not secret.
