1.

History of Trade Union in Malaysia after World War II (1946 – 1957)

1.1. Establishment of Malaysian Trade Union Congress and Conference of Trade

After the Second World War in 1946, the government set up a Trade Union Advisers
Department with the appointment of a Registrar of Trade Unions to curb the communist. This
establishment was aimed to stop the communist which at that time in 1948, the government
declared First Emergency against insurgent communist activities. 1 During Emergency, there was
no organization representing the right of workers, protecting their interest, and bringing their
views generally. But as at 1st January 1949, there were 163 registered Trade Unions with a total
membership of 68,814.2 To begin with, the strong base of Malayan Trade Union Congress
movement was actually a creature of British manipulation which emerged after stronger unions,
workers, and leaders were suppressed.3

Then on 27th and 28th February 1949, a few union leaders under Conference of Malayan
Trade Unions Delegates who believed in free democratic trade unionism delegated a conference
of trade union. The Delegates raised up their concern to form a central body governing the
workers for the interest of all Trade Unionists.4 Upon the opening of the conference, 160
delegates from 83 of the 165 registered Trade Unions represented and many leaders during that
time supported the movement of Council of Trade Unions. Among some of the notable leaders
who attended the conference were Dato’ Onn bin Jaafar, Dato’ Tan Cheng Lock, and Mr. R.
Ramani.5

1
S Tan. (1999) “CHAP1.pdf “ – UM Students’ Repository. p 1-14.
http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/2751/2/CHAP1.pdf
2
SJH Zaidi, “Birth of MTUC,” Malaysian Trades Union Congress, April 30, 2013.http://www.mtuc.org.my/about-
us/birth-of-mtuc/
3
Charles Hector, “History of the labour movement in Malaysia”, Aliran, October 11, 2017. https://aliran.com/aliran-
csi/aliran-csi-2017/history-labour-movement-malaysia/
4
SJH Zaidi, “Birth of MTUC,” Malaysian Trades Union Congress, April 30, 2013. http://www.mtuc.org.my/about-
us/birth-of-mtuc/
5
Ibid
 1.2. The Outcomes of the Conference of Trade Union

The Conference of Malayan Trade Union Delegates had caused many positive outcomes
as a result of the commitment given by the delegates in forming an official Trade Union body in
Malaya. The Conference had passed a resolution to create peaceful negotiations in all industrial
and occupational disputes. This Conference will be responsible to recommend to the government
that they adopt more realistic and sympathetic solutions in dealing with the issue of workers. 6
Furthermore, the Conference also made an appointment of a small working committee from
among the member which the first Chairman was Mr. K C Chia, and the first Secretary was Mr.
V M N Menon.7 Among the terms that agreed upon by the Conference for the establishment of
Working Committee were to examine the Trade Union’s position and ascertain what further
steps could be taken to establish closer liaison between union and union. Furthermore, it is the
role of Working Committee to consider what type of machinery and organization could be
developed, which would allow regular consultation and discussion between the Trade Union
Movement and the Labour representatives serving on various Government bodies and
committees.8

Not only that, the Trade Union Enactment was also passed during the Conference and
there are three important clauses included in the enactment. First, all trade unions had to be
registered. Second, federations of trade unions could only be formed by unions within the same
industry, and third, union officials had to be employed for a minimum of 3 years in the industry
which they represented.9 Subsequent to the introduction of the enactment, approximately 100

6
SJH Zaidi, “Birth of MTUC,” Malaysian Trades Union Congress, April 30, 2013.http://www.mtuc.org.my/about-
us/birth-of-mtuc/
7
Ibid
8
Ibid
9
S Tan. (1999) “CHAP1.pdf “ – UM Students’ Repository. p 1-
14.http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/2751/2/CHAP1.pdf
unions were deregistered and the Malayan Trade Union Congress (MTUC) emerged after a few
years later.10 The MTUC since then acted as an umbrella body for trade unions in the country.

1.3. Challenges to form Malayan Trade Union Congress

Although the establishment of MTUC seems easy as the British authorities who was still
involved in the government administration at that time accepted and supported the idea of the
Conference, but there were still some British officials who were convinced that by forming a
federation of trade union could be detrimental to Malaya. 11 British officials who supported the
formation of Trade Union movement gave Malaya an opportunity to bring industrial peace to the
country. On the other side, some British officials believed that Federation of Trade Union would
cause Indian domination thus contribute to racial hatred and social unrest in Malaya. 12 This is
due to the fact that workers and labour primarily consisted of Indian and Chinese origin which
were brought by the British colonial while Malay labours basically focused on self employment,
small businesses, farming, fishing and the civil service. Malay workers at that time refused to
work in such mines and plantations which already dominated by Indian and Chinese.13

There was also third view that the establishment of Trade Union was aimed to support
communist insurgency and 1946’s social riots which referred by the British as second disaster in
Malaya.14 Some also viewed that Trade Union is a threat to their positions as leaders which by
joining a larger standardized group would inevitably mean losing some of their power and
prestige. There was also doubt on question of finances as some of the groups were not ready to
contribute to its upkeep and they believed that such monies could better be utilized rather than
funding it to federation of Trade Union.15 This is due to the fact that being a member of

10
Ibid
11
SJH Zaidi, “Birth of MTUC,” Malaysian Trades Union Congress, April 30, 2013.http://www.mtuc.org.my/about-
us/birth-of-mtuc/
12
Ibid
13
Charles Hector, “History of the labour movement in Malaysia”, Aliran, October 11, 2017.https://aliran.com/aliran-
csi/aliran-csi-2017/history-labour-movement-malaysia/
14
SJH Zaidi, “Birth of MTUC,” Malaysian Trades Union Congress, April 30, 2013.http://www.mtuc.org.my/about-
us/birth-of-mtuc/
15
Ibid
federation of Trade Union requires them to pay ‘subscription’ which will be deducted
automatically from their salary by employers and transferred to the unions. 16 Some members
were uncertain and not confident with the directions that the Conference was bringing to achieve
the aims of labours.17

However, the Working Committee and unofficial representative of Malayan Trade Union
Congress were responsible to campaign and carry out the message to all Unions so that they
understand that the Trade Union was established to promote concept of workers federation in
Malaya.18 A worker alone is weak, but workers united are strong hence why the appointed
committees really worked hard to dispel all doubts among the workers that federation of Trade
Union was made to manipulate them. 19 They believed that only together as a strong united
workers will make them fight and get better rights and justice at their workplace. The
involvement and contribution of Bro Menon, Narayanan, and Rajagopal were among English
educated leaders who gained their inspiration from the West system while many Union leaders
especially those representing tradesmen were not English educated and they were not ready to
see changes in trade union.20 The felt that joining a larger national body cannot bring any interest
in protecting their own members and they doubted the leadership of the Working Committee
which was not always agreed by dominant leaders of the Unions. But again, under the right
leadership and the will to fight and struggle despite all obstacles they were facing, the Malaysian
Trade Union Congress developed successfully because they believe there were thousands of
labours who realized the need for an official and standardized worker body to represent their

16
Charles Hector, “History of the labour movement in Malaysia”, Aliran, October 11, 2017.https://aliran.com/aliran-
csi/aliran-csi-2017/history-labour-movement-malaysia/
17
SJH Zaidi, “Birth of MTUC,” Malaysian Trades Union Congress, April 30, 2013.http://www.mtuc.org.my/about-
us/birth-of-mtuc/
18
Ibid
19
Charles Hector, “History of the labour movement in Malaysia”, Aliran, October 11, 2017.https://aliran.com/aliran-
csi/aliran-csi-2017/history-labour-movement-malaysia/
20
SJH Zaidi, “Birth of MTUC,” Malaysian Trades Union Congress, April 30, 2013.http://www.mtuc.org.my/about-
us/birth-of-mtuc/
voices and inspirations. Not only that, the workers basically get benefit from collective
bargaining agreements which promise them for a fixed salary increments and bonuses.21

The advancement of Malaya in establishing Malayan Trade Union Congress at that time
can be considered as unexpected move as the British authorities never thought that the movement
was rising quite early thanks to Unionists and leaders who had the vision to push for the
formation of a Council of Trade Unions in the country. In 1951, the Malayan Trade Union
Congress was registered under the Societies Act 1951 as society to represent workers in specific
industries during negotiations with employers.22 There are now approximately 500,000 members
of the Unions affiliated with the MTUC representing all major industries and sector. 23 MTUC
now has been recognized by the Government as the representative of workers in Malaysia and
remains its function as consultant of the government on major changes in labour laws through
the National Joint Labour Advisory Council. At international level, MTUC also represent and
involve at the International Labour Organization Conferences and Meetings.24 That is the history
of Malayan Trade Union Congress as the oldest National Centre representing workers in
Malaysia.

Not everyone knows that Malayan Trade Union Congress had contributed their role in the
achievement of Independence from British colonial and they played significant attribution to
determine the future of Malaysia including the drafting of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia. 25
Among the functions and objectives of MTUC are to do everything to promote the interest of its
affiliated organizations, to improve the economic and social conditions of workers and render
them assistance. Moreover, it is MTUC’s role to ensure that policies are developed and action
taken to ensure full employment, to work towards the establishment of a minimum wage a legal

21
Charles Hector, “History of the labour movement in Malaysia”, Aliran, October 11, 2017.https://aliran.com/aliran-
csi/aliran-csi-2017/history-labour-movement-malaysia/
22
S Tan. (1999) “CHAP1.pdf “ – UM Students’ Repository. p 1-
14.http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/2751/2/CHAP1.pdf
23
Ibid
24
SJH Zaidi, “Birth of MTUC,” Malaysian Trades Union Congress, April 30, 2013.http://www.mtuc.org.my/about-
us/birth-of-mtuc/
25
Charles Hector, “History of the labour movement in Malaysia”, Aliran, October 11, 2017.https://aliran.com/aliran-
csi/aliran-csi-2017/history-labour-movement-malaysia/
maximum working week of 44 hours and to establish training centres and extension of training
facilities for workers.26

REFERENCES

1. SJH Zaidi, “Birth of MTUC,” Malaysian Trades Union Congress, April 30, 2013.

http://www.mtuc.org.my/about-us/birth-of-mtuc/

2. Charles Hector, “History of the labour movement in Malaysia”, Aliran, October 11, 2017.

https://aliran.com/aliran-csi/aliran-csi-2017/history-labour-movement-malaysia/

3. S Tan. (1999) “CHAP1.pdf “ – UM Students’ Repository. p 1-14.

http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/2751/2/CHAP1.pdf

26
SJH Zaidi, “Birth of MTUC,” Malaysian Trades Union Congress, April 30, 2013.http://www.mtuc.org.my/about-
us/birth-of-mtuc/