EMS: Sole Bargaining Rights

The provision for sole bargaining rights was established to address the issue of multiple trade unions following the proposed amendments to the Trade Unions Act 1959 [Act 262]. This mechanism allows the affected employees to choose only one trade union to represent them in collective bargaining. In other words, a workplace may have more than one trade union representing the same category of employees, but for the purpose of collective bargaining, only one trade union shall have the absolute right. The sole bargaining rights mechanism ensures that the existing policy remains: only one trade union is permitted to represent the same category of employees in any collective bargaining.