Bank staff need early vaccination too, says union

PETALING JAYA: The estimated 80,000 bank employees should be considered for early vaccination as they are not only essential frontliners but also help keep the nation ticking, says the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE).

It said the Malaysian Commercial Banks’ Association (MCBA) had written a letter to the science, technology, and innovation ministry in March and was given an assurance that the bank workers will be considered for vaccination.

“Following MCBA’s request, we wrote to the ministry in May and they told us that our request had been extended to the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force and the international trade and industry ministry (Miti).

“On June 2, NUBE informed Miti that the banking sector had supplied a list of names of the employees involved as requested. But to date, there has been no response from the ministry,” NUBE general secretary J Solomon said in a statement today.

He said not only were the bank staff and their family members facing a high risk of infection but also the customers.

Solomon said they were appreciative of the initiatives taken by the government in conducting vaccination programmes to achieve herd immunity to allow life to return to normal.

However, he said, it should not take months for the ministry and agencies involved to make a decision as Malaysians need the services of the banks for their day-to-day survival.

“If many of the staff are hit by Covid-19, it will cripple the banking industry. This should not happen,” he said, adding that NUBE was ready to help mobilise bank employees quickly for this purpose. — Free Malaysia Today