Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 411, June 2025

Case No 3414 (Malaysia) - Complaint date: 08-OCT-21 - Closed

Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body

1. 61. The Committee last examined this case (submitted in 2021), which concerns allegations of the denial of the right to organize and to collective bargaining at a forestry company, as a result of excessive delays in the legal recognition of a union as the bargaining agent, at its March 2023 meeting [see 401st Report, approved by the Governing Body at its 347th Session (March 2023) paras 549–595].  On that occasion, the Committee made the following recommendations [see para. 595]:
   • (a) The Committee expresses the firm hope that the current process of amendment of the Trade Unions Act will soon come to conclusion, so as to enable all workers to enjoy the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing and to be represented by them in collective bargaining.
   • (b) The Committee once again requests the Government to review the legislation with a view to ensuring that the definition of managerial and supervisory staff is limited to those persons who genuinely represent the interests of the employers, including, for example, those who have the authority to appoint or dismiss and that any artificial reclassifications are swiftly addressed.
   • (c) The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures, in full consultation with the social partners, to review the legal framework governing the procedure for recognition of trade unions for collective bargaining purposes with a view to simplifying and expediting the administrative and judicial processes. The Committee invites the Government to avail itself of the technical assistance of the Office in this regard should it so desire. It further draws the attention of the CEACR to the legislative aspects of this case.
   • (d) The Committee trusts that, bearing in mind the recent legislative amendments and the need to ensure that the exclusion of managerial and supervisory staff is limited to those persons who genuinely represent the interests of the employers, the union will obtain legal recognition for collective bargaining purposes without further delay.
2. 62. The Government provides its observations in communications dated 12 September 2023, and 8 January and 10 September 2024. In particular, the Government informs that following consultations with the social partners and ILO technical assistance, the Industrial Relations Act, 1967, has been amended to include provisions relating to the recognition process. The Government further indicates that it initiated the Trade Unions Act amendment process.
3. 63. As regards recommendation (d), the Committee notes the update provided by the Government concerning the court cases surrounding recognition of the Sabah Timber Industry Employees Union (STIEU). Following the recognition granted to the union by the Minister of Human Resources on 21 November 2018, the company appealed to the High Court which quashed the Minister’s decision on 26 February 2020. On 21 March 2024, the Court of Appeal, quashed the High Court’s decision by allowing the Minister’s appeal for judicial review, and no further appeals have been received on this matter. The Government indicates that despite the court decision, it is unable to proceed with the recognition claim as the company was wound up by a court order on 15 November 2021.
4. 64. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government. It notes that the company has now ceased to operate. With reference to its previous examination, the Committee notes with regret the excessive delays in the administrative and judicial proceedings relating to the union’s claim for recognition, amounting to almost 15 years since the union first claimed recognition. In this respect, the Committee recalls that it had requested the Government to take the necessary measures to review the legal framework governing the procedure for recognition of trade unions for collective bargaining purposes with a view to simplifying and expediting the administrative and judicial processes, and that it had drawn the legislative aspects of this case to the attention of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR). It further notes that the CEACR noted the coming into force, on 15 September 2024, of several amendments to the Industrial Relations Act and the Trade Unions Act, and that the CEACR continues to examine the legislative issues relating to the recognition criteria and procedure, as well as the duration of relevant administrative and judicial proceedings, in the framework of the supervision of the application by Malaysia of the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98). In the absence of any new information from the complainant organization since 2021, the Committee considers that this case is closed and does not call for further examination.