ABSTRACT
This chapter explores multinational corporations' (MNC) responses to, and effects upon, Malaysian trade unions in a context where the post-colonial 'developmentalist' state has attempted to maintain and increase control over organized labour, as part of a package to attract foreign direct investment. It argues that there are distinct differences in the manner that Australian, Japanese and US MNCs have adapted and responded to Malaysian labour, despite the general weakness of the labour movement. Within the two decades following 1976 the Malaysian economy transformed from an agricultural to a predominantly manufacturing one. Smith reports attempts by many Japanese companies in Malaysia to establish enterprise unions, prior to the 1980s change of government policy. The Malaysian union structure has allowed Japanese MNCs to accommodate industry unions and to feel comfortable with an in-house union policy. The electronics industry union issue has had a direct impact on the unionization of electronics workers and an indirect effect on the Malaysian labour movement.
