NUBE general secretary J Solomon said MTUC president Effendy Abdul Ghani has violated the court order, which asked the leadership not to make policy decisions or statements pending the disposal of the suit by a group of affiliates which managed to declare the election of its office bearers null and void.
He said the Shah Alam High Court, which allowed a stay of execution last month, made it clear that MTUC should only handle its daily operational matters and refrain from making policy decisions and statements or attend meetings in any of their capacity.
Effendy told FMT last week it was time that the contribution rate of employees towards Socso be increased as they have remained the same for decades.
Solomon alleged that this is a policy statement which Effendy is not allowed to make.
“Beside violating the court order, he has also made a suggestion which does not reflect the wishes of the workers. The government needs to first engage independent auditors to scrutinise and determine as to whether the Socso funds have been spent correctly,” Solomon said.
“We have received various complaints that it is difficult for contributors to obtain compensation or relief from Socso in the event of any employment injury or for invalidity pension. We have just received a complaint from a worker who had a fall in the office washroom which eventually caused him to have a stroke.”
He alleged that some contributors making claims had to go through various tedious processes which were often complicated and long-drawn.
Solomon said an audit was needed on Socso to see if it has deviated from its original objective of providing social protection to affected contributors, “which is its primary duty”.
The MTUC election for its principal office bearers last year was declared null and void in August after the court found that it had violated its constitution when calling for the triennial delegates conference to hold the election.
Subsequently, MTUC was given a stay order by the High Court on condition that the current leadership is only to run the day-to-day affairs of the congress and shall not make any policy decision until the appeal is heard and disposed of by the Court of Appeal.
FMT has reached out to Effendy for comment.