Compensate ex-employees in full, urge defunct paper’s veterans

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Utusan Malaysia employees should not only be paid their wages until the end of this month, but must also be compensated to alleviate their suffering.

The new company taking over the now defunct Malay daily must also settle payments to 800 employees who had accepted the voluntary separation scheme.

“We are concerned that this action of closing a company would be emulated by other companies as an easy way to resolve their problems. By doing so, companies would save millions of ringgit by circumventing the need to offer mutual or mandatory separation schemes,” said Utusan Melayu Malaysia Veterans Club (KVUM) moderator Tan Sri Khalid Yunus at a press conference here yesterday.

More than 50 Malay daily veterans attended the press conference, including Tan Sri Johan Jaaffar, Tan Sri Suleimen Mohamed, Rosle Azmi, Ku Seman Ku Hussain and Rosminah Ahmad.

They demanded that the company’s new owners take into account the welfare of employees and their families.

“What happened to Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd was a shock to us. We never thought that the 80-yearold company would bring down its curtain in such a manner.

“The company has been championing the interest of the Malays since its first publication, Utusan

Melayu, in Jawi. The Utusan brand was unique and undoubtedly responsible for positioning the company as the premier Malay newspaper company.”

A total of 1,600 employees lost their jobs, and at least 6,400 people were affected by the closure of Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd.

“We regret the fact that very little attention had been given to the plight of the 800 former employees affected by the move. We must not lose sight of more than 800 other former workers who accepted VSS, but have yet to be paid in full,” said Khalid, while reading KVUM’s statement to the press.

KVUM insisted that the company’s new owners give priority to former employees if they republished Utusan Malaysia, Mingguan Malaysia, Kosmo! and Kosmo! Ahad. The veterans demanded that all payments, including travelling allowances, overtime claims, medical expenses and any form of gratuity for the past one year, be settled.

“We also want the appointed interim liquidator company, UHY Advisory (KL) Sdn Bhd, to act in a responsible and transparent manner. It must allow representatives appointed by Utusan Melayu’s National Union of Journalists and National Union of Newspaper Workers to monitor the sale of assets.”

“We are talking about the people’s interests and their everyday lives. Be fair to them. We are not stopping people from running their business, but when you talk about the people’s needs, you have to consider the livelihood of those involved,” said the former deputy information minister.

The statement questioned the motive of the new owners when they knew the company could not be saved, further exacerbating the situation.

“The action manifests the failure of the new owners to improve and add value to the company, thus allowing it to deteriorate.

“We were informed that the company had run out of options other than the one taken. We are not here to point fingers at those responsible for the company’s state of affairs prior to its closure. However, we are disappointed that the action taken by the company did not take into consideration employees’ interests.

“We sense that the management was more interested in saving the licences of Utusan

Malaysia and Kosmo! and their Sunday editions because the brands have monetary value.”

Utusan’s former group chief editor Johan Jaaffar said the newspaper was respected as much as it was feared during the span of its operations over eight decades.

“We are passionate and are part of the legacy of this company. We can’t allow it to be killed. If you want to save the brand, why not save the company as well?

“We don’t want this to be an easy way out or set a precedent for any company. Is it going to be as simple as paying employees one-month salary and moving on? We are talking about the livelihood of 1,600 people.”

He believed that the new owners, who were wheelers and dealers, could save the company if they wanted to.

Last Wednesday, Utusan

Malaysia workers were jolted by a memorandum, signed by the company’s executive chairman, announcing the cessation of all its business activities.

The memorandum stated that the board of directors, on Oct 7, approved the proposal for creditors voluntary liquidation. It informed the former employees that their last day of work was Oct 9.

The Utusan Group publishes Utusan Malaysia, Mingguan Malaysia, Kosmo! and Kosmo! Ahad, as well as magazines. All its 862 former employees were told to go on forced leave until Oct 30.