Conciliation meeting for this case was held yesterday, 17 February 2017. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Zulkfli bin Wan Wan Setapa, Deputy Director General (Operations) Labour Department (LD) Peninsular Malaysia under the Ministry of Human Resources (MOHR).

HSBC was represented by Mr. Alan Sunil Netto, Ms. Prasanna Vasu and Mr. Tan Kok Kean. HSBC Bank initially tried to mislead those present for today’s meeting by saying that they have been consulting NUBE but eventually HSBC admitted that they did not discuss the work of the union members that was automated and outsourced.

HSBC also tried to deceive the attendees of the meeting by saying that the Memorandum of Agreement signed between NUBE and HSBC Bank in 2010 was only related to the Collective Agreement at the time. However, when the Labour Department asked if there was an expiry date for the Memorandum, HSBC Bank admitted that there was no expiry date in the memorandum.

When it was clear that HSBC was not transparent in this matter, the Labour Department advised HSBC to put the implementation of the VSS on hold and discuss with NUBE.

HSBC representatives said they did not have the mandate and asked until coming Monday to give their feedback.

NUBE was represented by General Secretary, Bro J Solomon and along with him were NUBE EXCO members and HSBC IRCs.

NUBE hopes HSBC Bank will make industrial harmony and the livelihood of the workers who have served them thus far their priority and become a trustworthy and responsible employer, respected by their own workers.