Malaysia
Organization responsible for the statistics
The statistics are collected and compiled by the Industrial
Relations Department, and published by the Ministry of Human
Resources.
Objectives and users
Not available.
Coverage
Strikes and lockouts
The statistics cover:
- constitutional or official strikes
- unofficial strikes
- sympathetic strikes
- political or protest strikes
- general strikes
- work stoppages initiated by employers
- rotating or revolving strikes
- sit-ins
- working to rule
- go-slows
- overtime bans
Minimum threshold
Duration of at least one day.
Economic activities
No particular branches of economic activity or sectors are
excluded.
Workers
Workers directly involved and workers indirectly involved. In
addition to regular paid employees, the statistics cover
temporary and casual workers. Part-time workers, seasonal
workers and unpaid family workers are not included, nor are
workers laid off or workers absent on sick or annual leave or
absent for any other reason.
No particular occupational groups are excluded.
Geographic areas
Whole country.
Types of data collected
- number of strikes and lockouts
- number of economic units involved
- number of workers involved
- duration
- time not worked
- cause of dispute
- nature of dispute
- method of settlement
- outcome of dispute
- characteristics of workers involved
Concepts and definitions
Strike
The cessation of work by a body of workmen acting in combination
or a concerted refusal or a refusal under a common understanding
of a number of workmen to continue to work or to accept
employment, and includes any act or omission by a body of workmen
acting in combination or under a common understanding, which is
intended to or does result in any limitation, restriction,
reduction or cessation of or dilatoriness in the performance or
execution of the whole or any part of the duties connected with
their employment.
Lockout
(a) The closing of a place of employment, (b) the suspension of
work, or (c) the refusal by an employer to continue to employ any
number of workmen employed by him, in furtherance of a trade
dispute, done with a view to compelling those workmen to accept
terms or conditions of or affecting employment.
These definitions come from the Industrial Relations Act,
1967.
Methods of measurement
Strikes and lockouts
The basic unit of measurement used to record a strike or lockout
is the case of dispute and the economic unit (establishment).
There is no general rule for counting a strike or lockout that is
interrupted but later resumes, still due to the same case of
dispute; it could be counted as a new strike or lockout or as
the continuation of the same strike or lockout.
Work stoppages arising from the same case of dispute,
occurring simultaneously in different establishments of the same
enterprise are regarded as one strike or lockout. Those arising
from the same case of dispute, occurring at different times in
different establishments of the same enterprise, or occurring
simultaneously or at different times in establishments of
different enterprises are counted as a separate strike or lockout
for each of the establishments or local workplaces involved.
Economic units involved
The economic unit is the establishment, local workplace or
enterprise. The establishment is defined as an economic unit
which engages under a single ownership or control in one or
predominantly one kind of economic activity at a single location.
Workers involved
The number of workers involved is the highest number of workers
involved at any one moment during the strike or lockout.
Duration
The duration is measured in workdays.
Time not worked
Total time not worked is measured in workdays as the product of
the number of workers involved and the duration. Overtime is not
taken into account.
Classifications
Type of dispute
- total cessation of work (including sit-in strike)
- partial cessation of work
- other forms of concerted action which adversely effect normal
production operations (e.g. go-slow, work-to-rule).
Cause of dispute
- refusal to enter into collective bargaining
- deadlock in collective bargaining
- dispute over terms and conditions of employment
- dismissal of workers
- retrenchment and lay-offs
- promotion, allocation of duties, transfer and other
management prerogatives
- demotion, suspension, warning letter and other disciplinary
action against workers
- non-implementation of labour standards and statutory
provisions relating to amenities and facilities and other
non-monetary benefits.
- infringement of workers' rights or unfair labour practices
Method of settlement
- terminated by way of an amicable settlement arising out of
direct negotiation between the parties
- terminated by intervention or conciliation by the Industrial
Relations Department
- terminated by reference of dispute to Industrial Court
- voluntary withdrawal
- discontinuance of industrial action by workers
Outcome of dispute
- workers' demands entirely met
- workers' demands entirely rejected
- workers' demands partially met and partially rejected
- workers' demands withdrawn/abandoned
- pending settlement through negotiation, conciliation or
arbitration
Branch of economic activity
The data are classified by branch of economic activity, according
to the following groups:
- rubber estate
- oil palm estate
- coconut estate
- tea estate
- mining and quarrying
- manufacturing
- construction
- commerce
- transport
- services
There are no specific guidelines for classifying general strikes
according to branch of economic activity.
Duration
- 2 days
- 3 days
- 4 to 5 days
- 6 days
- 7 days
- 8 to 9 days
- 10 to 14 days
- 15 to 31 days
- over one month
Reference period and periodicity
The statistics are compiled for periods of a month and a year,
and are published for periods of a year. They refer to strikes
and lockouts beginning during the particular reference period
only.
Analytical measures
None.
Historical background of the series
Not available.
Documentation
Series available
Not available.
Bibliographic references
Ministry of Labour: Annual Report.
Data published by the ILO
The number of strikes and
lockouts, the number of workers involved and the number of days not worked, by economic activity.
In the past, data were provided separately for Peninsular
Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. These individual series have been
discontinued. Data for the whole of Malaysia as from 1980 are
now presented in one series.
Confidentiality
Not available.
International standards
Not available.
Methods of data collection
There is a legal obligation applying to trade unions and
employers to report the occurrence of a strike. The report
should be made to (i) the Industrial Relations Department and
(ii) the Department of Trade Union Affairs, indicating:
- registered name of trade union
- issue or issues of dispute and their resolution
- result of secret ballot.
Form U (Trade Unions Act 1959) exists for this purpose; it
should be completed by the secretary of the trade union within
fourteen days after the holding of a secret ballot and submitted
90 days prior to the proposed legal strike to the Director
of the area in which is registered the concerned trade union.
Other procedural notification forms are also completed: the
Report of Commencement of Strike (Form SA), the Report of
Termination of Strike (Form SB), both of which are completed by
the state Industrial Relations Office and provided to the
Industrial Relations Department, Kuala Lumpur, as well as a
Report of Commencement of Strike/Lock-out (red form) which
is transmitted from the Department of Industrial Relations to the
Minister of Human Resources.