Several journalists retrenched unceremoniously by The Sun in January decided to proceed in bringing a case at the Industrial Court against their former employer for unfair dismissal today.

National Union of Journalists-Sun branch secretary P Vijian said some 10 union members were present at the Industrial Relations Department office in Kuala Lumpur to meet with representatives from the Sun Media Corporation.

The unions position is that we want to pursue the case further at the Industrial Court and we are not taking whatever is being offered by the management, he told malaysiakini .

According to Vijian, the union had made its position very clear and will not participate in any more conciliatory talks with the dailys management.

There is no point in meeting with the management which is adamant on its offer and unwilling to compromise, he said.

What happened today was that they brought down figures for each person and tried to brief individual members on what they were getting, he added.

The papers management had offered the journalists retrenchment benefits of one-and-a-half-month pay for every year served for those employed for more than five years, or one-month pay for every year served for those employed less than five years.

The management also offered to pay all bonuses, overtime and claims for the year 2001.

However, the NUJ had asked for compensation of 12 months full salary for the journalists sudden dismissal and compliance to collective agreement terms which included one month bonus for 1998 which is part of the annual two-month contractual bonus owed to them.

The union also demanded for the retrenchment benefits to be based on a revised 2002 salary to take into account annual increment as well as continued payment of wages until the full settlement of all sums owing to those sacked.

The NUJ-Sun branch secretary said following the filing of the journalists complaints with the Industrial Relations Department, the merits of their case will be studied by the Human Resources Ministry before it is referred to the Industrial Court.

Strong case

We are looking at a very strong case here. The management had breached a lot of labour laws, said Vijian in reference to the manner in which the first wave of retrenchment was executed.

He pointed out that among others, the management violated the last in first out retrenchment rule, as well as terms stipulated on the union members CA.

Meanwhile, another axed journalist said at least 12 of the 26 journalists had accepted the offer made by the management.

Those who have agreed with the settlement terms have been issued with a cheque on Mar 14, said the journalist.

According to Vijian, two other journalists who were not union members were also present at the IRD this morning to file individual complaints over their sudden dismissals.

However, he could not say if they were unhappy over the same conditions of dismissal as their contracts may differ from the CA signed between union members and the management.

Meanwhile, Vijian said the initial deadline set by the management for the journalists to accept the terms was Mar 21. However, no explanation had been given as to what would happen should the offer be rejected.

One journalist asked why (the date had been chosen) but the Human Resource Manager (N Shanmugaratinam) could not answer, he said.

Shanmugaratinam was unavailable for comment on the matter.

Controversial report

The Sun was eclipsed by controversy following a front-page report on Dec 25 of a plot to kill the countrys top two leaders.

Several editorial staff were suspended after Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad expressed his dismay over the report.

This prompted journalists and other staff to take to the streets calling for the reinstatement of their colleagues and also for the payment of outstanding bonuses.

On Jan 11, The Sun retrenched 53 employees citing financial difficulties. However, the sacked staff claimed that union members were deliberately targeted.

On Feb 28, the company sacked another 256 of its remaining 411 staff after it was announced that another media company intends to buy a substantial stake in the ailing daily.

The paper, with a circulation of about 82,000, has suffered an estimated loss of RM200 million since its inception in 1993.

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