The management of Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd has, since Monday, been in a series of meetings over a deadlock in the new collective agreement (CA) for journalists.

Human Resources manager Hasan Sahlan said yesterday the senior managers are currently discussing the employees' demands.

"I can only tell you that talks are also going on (with the union) but I can't reveal more," he said.

Hasan had initially agreed to a fuller interview with malaysiakini at the company's office, but this was cancelled today. His secretary cited a directive from chairperson Mohamed Hashim Ahmad Makaruddin.

Mohamed Hashim's office confirmed calling off the interview as "everything is settled now and the management does not have to respond to any queries on the picket".

He refused to take any calls, relaying a "no comments" message through his secretary.

Picket put off

However, National Union of Journalists Utusan branch chief Norila Mohd Daud disputed the management's claim that the talks involve the union, saying "nothing has changed".

"The management has not returned to us with anything," she said when contacted.

She also said the union has postponed picketing until next week, as a large number of journalists and photographers are covering the five-day Umno general assembly which began today in Kuala Lumpur.

Utusan Melayu, which is owned by Umno, publishes the Malay-language daily Utusan Malaysia , which has a circulation of 280,000 and the weekend edition Mingguan Malaysia .

"The journalists are operating from the Putra World Trade Centre for the duration of the meeting. So, we decided to postpone our picket until all this is over," she said.

Norila said the union may resume the picket on Monday, depending on developments in relation to management decisions.

Last Friday, half of the members based at the daily's office located off Jalan Chan Sow Lin held an hour long picket during lunch time to protest the management's unwillingness to break the impasse over certain demands.

The branch has about 300 members, half of whom are stationed in state bureaux.

One of the demands is to retain the employees' gratuity scheme which has been included in the CA for over 20 years.

The branch has rejected the management's plans to replace the scheme with a five percent contribution to the Employees Provident Fund in the next CA.