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Today, Malaysian commerce sector unions formed a national union to bring unity and collective strength in the country.



UNICOME brings together 14 registered unions from the local and global retailers represented in Malaysia.



“This a break-through for the commerce sector in Malaysia and we intend to grow the union,” UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings said in his welcome address. Jennings was in Kuala Lumpur for the formation of UNICOME.



UNI Apro President Joe de Bruyn was also present at the ceremony.



“UNI will be working side by side with UNICOME to win new members and to ensure that every retail worker is covered by a collective agreement,” de Bruyn said.



The 14 constituent unions were present for the launch; UNI MLC President Mohd. Shafie BP Mammal said that the leadership of the 14 unions were all “new generation Malaysians.”



“The majority of staff in the retail sector in Malaysia is young workers and this will be reflected in the leadership of UNICOME,” he said.



UNICOME is part of an ambitious strategy by UNI Apro to grow retail trade unions in the region. Throughout the region, global household retail names are now present.



This is a major advance for UNI Commerce Global Union to globalize union representation.



“We welcome UNICOME into the UNI family of unions,” Jennings said.