Fourteen former employees of Selangor water giant Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd today staged a picket over their alleged unfair dismissal at the company’s headquarters in Shah Alam.

NONE The group claims that they were not given a chance to defend themselves and claims that their dismissal did not follow due process.

Led by dismissed Puncak Niaga senior operation manager Kaharuddin Mohd Ali, the group carried placards which includes messages such as “Puncak Niaga are job destroyers” and “Baseless allegations, immediate dismissal”.

Kaharuddin said 15 Puncak Niaga executives, who have served the company between five to 15 years, were issued the dismissal letters on Oct 30 and were ordered to leave the company premises immediately.

“We received the letter at the eleventh hour although it was drafted on Oct 19. Then we were called to pack our things and get out immediately,” said Kaharuddin.

The letters stated that the group was underperforming, but Kaharuddin argued that they were victims of a conspiracy masterminded by company chairperson Rozali Ismail.

 “Some of us scored good marks in our 2009 appraisal. But the marks were slashed off by the executive committee without any reason given.

“We were then called to undergo four counseling sessions over the past six months,” he said.

'No due process'

He said that under normal circumstances, Puncak Niaga staff would be counseled before a show-cause and warning letter is issued.

NONE “However, we just went through the session and without being given any warning letter, we were dismissed. In fact, I think the counseling session was just to legitimise the executive committee’s actions,” he claimed.

Kaharuddin ( right ) also dismissed suggestions that the 15 axed staff were in conflict with the committee, adding that they belonged to different departments and branches.

Of the 15 individuals that were dismissed, all but one are seeking redress from the Industrial Relations Department. A reconciliation meeting is scheduled for Dec 21.

At the time of writing, Puncak Niaga’s media and human resources department could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts.