The Sun Media Corporation today postponed for the third time a tripartite meeting with Labour Department officials and representatives from the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) to discuss its controversial retrenchment exercise.

In a letter to the department today, the company requested for the meeting to be pushed to next week in order for the 'new management' to attend.

About a week ago, a merger between fledgling media company Nexnews Bhd and Sun Media Corporation, which publishes English daily The Sun , was in the making.

To date, however, there has been no information on whether there will be a management revamp.

Meanwhile, NUJ's assistant general secretary K Kannan said the postponement today was done with total disregard for the Labour Department which falls under the Human Resources Ministry.

"They ( The Sun ) are not only defiant of authority, they have no concern for staff welfare as well," said Kannan, who is also the NUJ/Sun branch chairperson.

The meeting was initiated following a five-point letter sent to the Labour Department by the NUJ/Sun branch on grievances with regard to the alleged 'breach' of contract by the management.

The same week Human Resources Minister Dr Fong Chan Onn promised that his officials would look into the matter.

'Ship without a captain'

Meanwhile, today being pay-day at the The Sun , retrenched journalists found their bank balance at zero.

"We have lost confidence in the management. The retrenched staff should at least have been paid their salary for the period of Jan 1 to Jan 11 (retrenchment date)," said Kannan.

The 'old' management is shifting the buck, he claimed, adding that "they (the management) are a ship without a captain".

Till today the 43 sacked staff and those who remain are left in a lurch.

Those given the marching orders continue to wait for compensation while those still holding their jobs wait for the next wave of lay-offs.

According to regulations concerning retrenchments, staff should be paid compensation within seven days of being laid off.

In a related development, the New Straits Times reported today that The Sun is expected to close several state bureaus in a downsizing exercise.

The report also said The Sun 's executive editor, R Nadeswaran, is expected to be named as deputy editor while former Phileo Allied human resource manager Phillip Karupiah is expected to be appointed as executive director.

When contacted by malaysiakini later, Nadeswaran denied any knowledge on the closure of the bureaus and the expected new appointments.

In a press statement today, NUJ slammed Sun Media for embarking on a downsizing exercise, which may include the closing down of bureaus, "without consulting the union".