Union support vital for MAS turnaround plan

KUALA LUMPUR: A union is usually described as a democratic organisation
of working people standing up for their rights on the job.

On
the other hand, it is also said that unions can also be unreasonable to
deal with when they put pressure on companies in terms of wages or
their attitude towards certain company policies.

In the case of
Malaysia Airlines (MAS), its workers unions were opposed to the
share-swap arrangement with AirAsia and hence the subsequent rescinding
of the deal.

It is common knowledge that they were unhappy over
certain arrangements which they deemed as having put MAS at a
disadvantage to the low-cost carrier.

Certain quarters have
also questioned the lapses in judgment by MAS' major shareholders which
had contributed to the brief but failed tie-up.

But going
forward, MAS needs the support of its various employees' unions for any
new turnaround exercise while its employees should embrace change so
that they will have a better and more secured future, say analysts.

RAM
Holdings Group Chief Economist Dr Yeah Kim Leng said regaining its
lustre as one of Asia's premier international carriers is not going to
be easy as the global airline industry is facing an increasingly tough
and challenging environment.

Rising fuel costs, falling demand,
fierce competition and challenging regulatory environments are plaguing
the industry, he told Bernama.

Against this grim backdrop, all
airlines have to contend with the constantly changing business
landscape, failing which the weak, uncompetitive and inefficient will
be driven out.

Dr Yeah believed that restructuring in various
industrial sectors and companies were happening at a much faster pace
in the country in response to the rapid internationalisation of trade,
investment and business opportunities amidst the need to escape the
middle-income trap syndrome.

Once the plans to revitalise MAS have been unveiled, the onus will be on the employees' unions to rally around their company.

Dr
Yeah also said the MAS management would also have to work hard to fully
harness its human capital and motivate its workforce to improve areas
like cost efficiency, productivity and service quality to realise the
company's business goals.

The critical success factors, he
stressed, would be the ability to execute the airline's business
strategies effectively and this has to be communicated to its employees
with the cooperation of their unions.

Sharing the same view,
another analyst who requested anonymity, said as MAS is essentially a
service-oriented business and a government-linked company, the airline
certainly needed the unions' support to turn around.

"The
unions should give assurance that their members are supporting the
management's turnaround plan while the management has also to give
assurance on job security," he said.

The unions, he said, have to accept changes in a number of areas so that MAS would have a strong chance to grow again. Bernama