5 June, 2025Following the enforcement of the amended Trade Union Act on 15 September 2024, IndustriALL Global Union affiliates in Malaysia signed a landmark memorandum of agreement (MOA) on 5 June 2025 to strengthen cooperation and solidarity in building stronger, more effective unions nationwide.
In 2023, the Malaysian Parliament passed amendments to the Trade Union Act, removing restrictions on organizing within specific industries. These changes allow trade unions in Malaysia to broaden their organizing scope, provided they amend their constitutions accordingly. Two IndustriALL affiliates have already made the necessary amendments, with more expected to follow.
To prevent phenomenon of union competition occurring in other countries, IndustriALL Malaysia council proposed a memorandum containing IndustriALL's three golden rules:
- Organize the unorganized
- build strong democratic structures and self-sustaining unions financed through their own membership dues
- no competition between and among affiliates
After several rounds of debates and minor revisions, the affiliate leaders signed the memorandum at IndustriALL Malaysia unity meeting on 1 June in Penang. The agreement also urges affiliates to coordinate with each other on union building issues and resolve disputes through mediations. Joint solidarity action and resource sharing is encouraged.
IndustriALL Malaysia council secretary, Gopal Kishnam Nadesan, said:
“I am glad that finally all Malaysia affiliates agree to sign this memorandum, since 94 per cent of Malaysian workers are unorganized, the field is very vast, we should not compete with each other in already organized factories. Let’s focus on the unorganized factories and concentrate our efforts to increase union density in Malaysia.”
IndustriALL South East Asia regional secretary, Ramon Certeza, said:
“Trade Union Act amendments will have a profound impact on the way trade union movement operates in Malaysia. It is a good opportunity that trade unions can now organize more workers in different sectors and brings in workers into the union fold. But we should take this in a very cautious approach and the signed MOA is a good start. I congratulate IndustriALL Malaysia council for its farsighted move and conclusion of the memorandum.”
During the unity meeting, IndustriALL Malaysia affiliates also visited the offices of Penang Textile and Garment Workers’ Union (PTGWU) and Electronics Industry Employees Union Northern Region (EIEUNR) to deepen understanding among Malaysia affiliates.