Malasia - Union busting tactics in the electronics sector (2013)

On 1-2 October 2014, workers in Malaysia voted for union representation by the Electronic Industry Employees Union (EIEU) at electronics manufacturer Infineon Technologies, despite strong pressure and union busting tactics by management. Workers at the Kulim-based plant in northwest Malaysia initially asked the company management for recognition of their union in April 2014. However, Infineon rejected the union’s demands and refused to enter a constructive dialogue with workers. EIEU was subsequently forced to pursue a long bureaucratic recognition procedure, while the company tried to destroy the workers’ efforts at organising. In a bid to prevent union presence, the company tried to claim the factory was not producing electronic components. Eventually, Infineon agreed to a secret ballot of the entire workforce. In the run-up to the vote, the company regularly provided negative briefings against EIEU and threatened workers. Nonetheless, more than half of the workers voted in favour of having the union at the plant.