NUBE said union members will be repeating the call for member banks of the Malayan Commercial Banks’ Association (MCBA) to pay festival aid to employees.

The Industrial Court previously ruled that a 2023 memorandum of agreement on festival aid only provided for a one-off payment and that banks were not obligated to pay aid for subsequent years.

NUBE also claimed that human resources minister Steven Sim has failed to act on numerous complaints of trade union leave applications being rejected by banks.

It contended that this ran afoul of trade union rights provided under Malaysian laws.

The union also claimed that the industrial relations department had summoned members for an investigation into protests they took part in. This came after banks filed complaints to the department.

“NUBE had written to the minister to intervene and stop the investigation, but the minister has failed to respond to this letter,” it said in a statement.