The Union of Forestry Employees Sarawak (UFES) has claimed a 'minor victory' in its fight with the management to claim certain fundamental rights for employees in the Forestry Department.

This follows yesterday's High Court decision in Kuching to grant the union which represents about 1500 members throughout Sarawak leave to proceed with their application to revoke the state government's decision not to issue option letters to the employees to join the newly-established Sarawak Forestry Corporation Sdn Bhd.

No date has been fixed for hearing of the application.

"We are happy (with the High Court's decision) because some quarters now do recognise we have a case against the state government after all," the union's assistant secretary Zaidi Buang told malaysiakini today.

The union has been doing a long running battle with management since it was first announced that the major functions of the Forestry Department were going to be taken over by a corporation or company more than two years ago.

The corporation's chief executive officer Cheong Ek Choon, who is also the department's head, has been reported as saying many of the department's staff have been absorbed and many more are going to be taken into the corporation.

Not compulsory

The government, however, has maintained it is not compulsory to issue option letters to each and everyone. The union maintains otherwise, hence the application for leave to apply to court to revoke the decision the government has made.

After corporatisation, the department is left mainly with forestry administration and policy implementation, while the corporatised entity Sarawak Forestry Corporation and a wholly-owned government company called Sarawak Forestry Corporation Sdn Bhd operates as contractors/service providers.

Output from Sarawak's forests, mainly from extraction of logs and manfacturing of timber and timber-based products for local and export markets, bring in billions of ringgit in revenue each year for the state.

Zaidi accused the corporation of what he called its 'pick and choose' policy in taking in the staff from the department.

"What is going to happen to the rest eventually?," he asked

The union has called for contract staff who originally made up of one-third of the department's workforce to be permanently emplaced when taken into the corporation.

The contract staff, mostly lower level employees or perkerja rendah awam , comprise three groups - permanent daily paid, one-line vote (two years contract to be renewed) and two-month contract workers.

Many of the contract staff have been working for more than 20 years with the department, according to Zaidi.

The last official meeting union officials had with the State Secretary Aziz Hussein, who is also chairman of the SFCSB , was in 2002, before the department's functions were transferred to the corporatised body.