Telekom Malaysia will be facing a nationwide picket by the National Union of Telecommunication Employees (NUTE) this Tuesday 18 March 2008. The picket is as a mean to protest against TM’s implementation of the Employee’s Share Option Scheme (ESOS). Together with NUTE, the picket will be also joined by Sabah Union of Telecommunication Employees (SUTE) and the Union of Telecommunication Employees Sarawak (UTES) who will be staging the protest in their respective states.

According to NUTE president, Mohamed Shafie BP Mammal said the picket was due to the unfair allocation of shares where TM’s management had no clear formula for allocation. TM was also said to have failed in disclosing the information about the whole process, and did not discuss the terms and conditions of allocation with the unions. The unions are also not satisfied with the overall ‘outsourcing’ handling by the company.

“The decision made by TM shareholders during the extraordinary general meeting was well-received by the three unions. However, the three unions unequivocally and wholly reject the manner and procedure of the ESOS exercise,” said Shafie to NST.

25 pickets will be held in the Peninsular Malaysia and three in Sabah and Sarawak.

In October 2006, more than 500 members of NUTE organized a picket in front of Telekom Malaysia HQ in Kuala Lumpur in protest of their ‘insourcing’ activity of the call centers to VADS Berhad, a company majority-owned by TM. The employees were the staff of TM Call Center at the Retail Customer Contact Center (TMRCC). During the same time, about 800 employees in Sabah and Sarawak picketed in the respective states.