KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) today maintained its support to the Barisan Nasional government, saying that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has done a lot to uplift workers' status in the country.
Its President Datuk Abdul Halim Mansor said the organisation did not issue any statement urging 14 million workers in Malaysia to vote for the opposition in tomorrow's general election as reported in some online media.
He said MTUC secretary-general J. Solomon's statement today was made in his capacity as National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) secretary general.
"I have seen the statement issued by Solomon and it has been manipulated by some online portals as if trying to damage the good relationship between MTUC and the government.
"In a statement, Solomon did not mention that he was representing MTUC but instead it was made in his capacity as NUBE's rep. If it was for NUBE with its 20,000 members, then he is free to make any statement. It does not represent MTUC." he said.
Solomon was reported to have urged workers to vote for the opposition in the general election to prove to the government that workers are key to the country's economy and should not be ignored.
Abdul Halim added that based on the organisation's policy, any official statement made must be approved by the MTUC general council and consent from all 200 unions affiliated to the organisation.
"In this case, the statement made by Solomon is about NUBE,"
"So in my opinion, this is just a tactic used by some news portals to ensure better reach of the statement. Probably they feel it is better to use Solomon's position as MTUC secretary general rather than NUBE's." he said.