MTUC secretary-general Kamarul Baharin Mansor said the focus should be on companies with “ultra-rich” CEOs earning annual salaries in the hundreds of thousands.

He said CEOs should not exploit workers, who are only seeking modest employment benefits compared to their superiors.

“Where is the compassion for lower-level employees who are seeking modest employment benefits compared to those of CEOs?” he asked in a statement.

“They should have embraced the Madani concept promoted by the prime minister for the well-being of workers.”

Kamarul also urged the human resources ministry to put pressure on the bank managements to hold dialogues with members of the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE).

“The government or human resources ministry should apply pressure on the banks until a dialogue takes place,” he said.

Kamarul’s remarks follow recent peaceful lunch-hour pickets by more than 250 NUBE members at five banks nationwide.

NUBE organised the protests to highlight several critical issues, including persistent union-busting attempts by bank managements, exorbitant CEO salaries, lack of access to training, fair pay and a safe working environment.

The union said bank employees were being denied opportunities to attend paid training and upskilling programmes, which were essential for career advancement and job security.

In his statement, Kamarul also voiced support for the union’s picketing efforts to advocate for workers’ welfare and benefits.

“NUBE’s actions aim to advocate for the welfare and benefits that workers rightly deserve but are being denied by the greedy, arrogant and conceited bank managements.”

He added that banks achieve high profits through the diligence, efforts and sacrifices of their workers, but these employees do not receive the recognition they deserve.

“The suffering of bank employees, especially those in the B40 category, worsens when banks disregard the collective agreements that have been drawn up.”