Sixty workers from a subsidiary of satellite television provider Astro lodged complaints with the Labour Department after they were terminated with 24 hour notice.

Workers’ union UNI-Malaysia Labour Centre said the workers were called in and made to sign an agreement of termination and paid compensation immediately.

"Astro Productions Sdn Bhd’s move of terminating these workers without an explanation is uncalled for given that the firm has two registered workers’ unions.

"The workers should have been terminated in a more dignified maner and not sacked in such a cruel manner, given that some had worked for the firm for (close to) 20 years," said UNI-Malaysia Labour Centre president Mohamed Shafie Bp Mammal said in a statement.

Astro Production, a subsidiary of Astro All Asia Networks, was founded in 1996 and produces and distributes television drama programmes.

When contacted, it said Astro Productions were forced to let the staff go to ensure "ongoing viability".

"We regret that these redundancies were unavoidable despite every effort taken to redeploy the affected employees.

"We have made every attempt to treat the affected employees with respect and fairness," broadcast and operations senior vice president Rohaizad Mohamed said in an email to Malaysiakini .

All procedures were followed and due compensation paid, he said.

Additional reporting by Aidila Razak