Bahari, Azizan (1989) Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) 1949-81 : a study of a national labour centre. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This is a study about the trade union movement
in colonial and early post-colonial Malaysia. This
is done by examining the role and development of the
country's national labour centre, the Malaysian
Trades Union Congress (MTUC), and in particular, its
leadership from 1949 to 1981.
The central argument of the study is that the
MTUC was a reformist organisation because of state
control and the dominance of "moderate" and
"responsible" leadership. It is also argued that the
national centre was unable to effectively represent
the interests of labour because the leadership lacked
a working-class ideological perspective. These
arguments are developed with reference to a number of
ma j or themes or issues during the period under review
Such as "responsible unionism", government
incorporation of the movement, politics, tripartism
and industrial peace, "worker capitalism", conflicts
within the movement, and communalism. An essential
part of the exercise has been to reinterpret the
history of the national centre during its first three
decades of existence.
After the first two introductory chapters,
Chapters 3 and 4 discuss the formation and early
development of the MTUC during the colonial era. The
role of government and "moderate" labour leaders is
highlighted. Chapters 5 and 6 consider the position
and role of the MTUC with respect to labour disputes
and politics under the post-colonial Alliance
government. The following two chapters analyse the
compromising ideology and divisions and split within
the movement under the Barisan Nasional government.
The study is an appraisal of the Malaysian trade
union movement attempting to contribute to an
understanding of trade unionism in an ex-colonial
"Third World" setting.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DS Asia H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Labor unions -- Malaysia -- History -- 20th century, Malaysian Trades Union Congress -- History, Malaysia -- Politics and government -- 20th century
Official Date:	July 1989
Dates:	Date Event July 1989 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Sociology
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Fairbrother, Peter
Sponsors:	Universiti Sains Malaysia ; Malaysia. Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam
Extent:	x, 335 leaves
Language:	eng

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