Aviation workers in Malaysia victorious

May 10, 2012

Airline workers in Malaysia have hailed the cancellation of an airline share swap last week a victory following a move by the Malaysian government.

The ITF-affiliated Malaysian Airline System Employees’ Union (MASEU), which represents workers at the Malaysia Airline System (MAS), applauded the fact that the government had scrapped the deal between the MAS and low cost carrier AirAsia.

Jabarullah Abdul Kadir, MASEU spokesperson, explained: “Although the share swap between the MAS and AirAsia has been cancelled, the collaboration between Malaysia Airline and AirAsia will still go ahead and this will be further discussed so that a win-win situation can be established for all parties.”

He continued: “At this point in time, the union is demanding the clearance of the current MAS management team who came from AirAsia – approximately eight of them. They must go so that MAS has a neutral management to run the airlines towards profitability.”

Last October, the ITF urged the Malaysian government to ensure that workers’ rights were preserved in any collaboration between the MAS and Air Asia; it had been reported that an agreement between the two airlines had been reached without union consultation.