About us

Malaysian Trades Union Database is a website set up by trade union community in Malaysia with the aim to provide open information on trade union and worker organisation profiles, analysis and statistics in the country.

The idea of setting up the website emerged when unionists found there was very scarce information about Malaysian trade unions. The statistics of the Department of Trade Union Affairs shows that there are total 751 trade unions in 2018, but only few unions have their own websites or blogs.

Given the fact that technology revolution has significantly changed the lifestyle of human society, more people especially younger generation are looking for interested information or knowledge online, it is crucial for trade unions to make their information available online. These include their histories, struggles and stories that touched many lives.

Therefore, the mission of this website is to upgrade our unions become “union 4.0” in the era of “industry 4.0”. In short, we want to create “digital union” in the cyberspace so workers can find virtual coordinates of the union in their industries. This will encourage young workers to join trade unions or worker organisations and increase union density in the country.

Moreover, we hope that by providing bilingual information on assorted topics such as registration of trade unions, process of claim for recognition, handling of trade disputes and procedure of industrial actions, workers can be more aware of their rights enshrined in ILO Conventions, Federal Constitutions and other national laws.

The website is an initiative of Labour Law Reform Coalition (LLRC), a broad coalition of 58 Malaysian trade unions and worker organisations, but serves Malaysian union community as a whole. It is non-profit in nature, for educational purpose and promoting labour activism.

The website is supported by IndustriALL Global Union South East Asia office (IndustriALL-SEAO) , Building and Wood Workers’ International Asia Pacific (BWI-AP) and International Domestic Workers Federation Asia Pacific (IDWF-AP).

Our advisory and editorial members provide support for the website on voluntary basis :

Advisory members :

N. Gopal Kishnam, Co-Chairperson of LLRC, General Secretary of National Union of Transport Equipment and Allied Industries Workers (NUTEAIW)

Irene Xavier, Co-Chairperson of LLRC, founder of Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor.

Editorial members :

Ng Yap Hwa, IndustriALL Global Union South East Asia office (INDSEAO)

Saharuddin Adnan, Industrial Relations Officer, EIEUWR

Special thanks :

We would like to express our gratitude to Isabelle Olausson, who helped us to prepare the first few trade union profiles during her internship at IndustriALL’s South East Asia office in 2019.

Contact us :

If you wish to share your union stories and have your union information uploaded to the website, please contact us at (+60)19-8889687 or yhng@industriall-union.org

Disclaimer : Sharing the information on the website does not mean the unions or worker organisations are affiliated with any organisation unless stated in union profiles.