The National Union of Journalists Malaysia (NUJ) today reached an "amicable" settlement with Sin Chew Daily on the dispute over union president Chin Sung Chew's two-day 'paid union leave'.

Lawyers for both parties informed Industrial Court president S Susila about their out-of-court settlement today.

NUJ was represented by V Jayashree while Sin Chew Daily 's lawyer was T Kavitha.

NONE Aside from Chin, NUJ secretary-general V Anbalagan ( left in picture ) was also present in court today.

Jayashree and Anbalagan told Malaysiakini that the matter was resolved "amicably" and the union had agreed to withdraw the case.

However, Anbalagan declined to reveal the terms and conditions of the settlement, saying there was a confidentiality clause as well and that NUJ was "happy" with the terms.

"We are very happy and we believe the company is also very happy because the matter was amicably resolved and this will also save the court's time,” he said.

Hope for no more obstacles in leave application

Asked how the settlement would affect future union leave applications, Anbalagan said it had to be taken on a case-by-case basis, but he hoped employers will ensure a smooth process in future.

"We hope that in future, when the principal office-bearers of NUJ are asked to attend to union matters or disputes, the employers will not put any obstacles on union leave.

"It should be a smooth process. After being given reasonable notification, the employer should grant the leave."

Meanwhile, Sin Chew Daily general manager of legal affairs and corporate services Tan Chee Yuen refused to comment when approached by Malaysiakini .

nuj journalist forum 050907 chin sung chew The application for paid union leave from Chin ( right ) was rejected by the Sin Chew management when he went to Penang in October and December last year to represent the NUJ-Kwong Wah Daily branch over a labour dispute with the Penang-based newspaper, which is a rival of Sin Chew .

The reason given by the then-management of Sin Chew was that the NUJ chief was not entitled to wages and petrol allowance for the said period as his leave had been used up in resolving a dispute involving another company.

The union then took up the case - arguing that Chin was in Penang in his capacity as NUJ president and thus was entitled to paid leave - but it failed to reach an agreement with the Sin Chew management.

The leading Chinese daily had only agreed to grant Chin unpaid leave under the Industrial Relations Act 1967.

NUJ was then prompted to seek legal recourse after negotations between the two parties broke down despite intervention from the Industrial Relations Department as well as Human Resources Minister S Subramaniam.