KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 26): The National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) said today it is taken aback by news regarding the retirement of Datuk Seri Nazir Razak as group chairman of CIMB Group Holdings Bhd come Dec 31, and hopes Nazir will reconsider his decision.
"We hope he will continue to contribute his expertise and knowledge to the Malaysian banking industry and for better industrial relations," it said in a statement.
NUBE said although there had been "stormy challenges" between the trade union and CIMB in the past, Nazir was able to weather them by adopting the social dialogue mechanism and giving audience to it to discuss issues affecting workers and thereby settling issues amicably.
"We recall that he was instrumental in resolving the collective bargaining dispute in 2008 when he honoured his word to incorporate cost of living allowance in the subsequent collective agreement, which has alleviated to a certain extent the financial burden of over 30,000 bank workers.
"After settling a trade dispute between CIMB and NUBE, he attended our Triennial Delegates Conference in 2014 and in addressing the delegates, he said, 'We can agree to disagree. But we cannot deviate from working together.' This is a reflection of his maturity and leadership trait," noted NUBE.
As such, his announcement has taken many by surprise as he is comparatively young and still has much to offer to the banking industry, it added.
"There are not many chairmen or presidents of his calibre and NUBE considers his departure will be a great loss to the banking sector. It needs to be mentioned that like his contemporaries in Malayan Banking Bhd and Public Bank Bhd, he took the lead in humanising employment policies in the bank in the interest of workers," said NUBE.
On Monday, Nazir announced that he will be relinquishing all his positions within CIMB by Dec 31. He has been chairman of the group since 2014 and was previously group chief executive officer for 15 years.
Source : http://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/reconsider-decision-retire-nube-tells-cimbs-nazir