KUALA LUMPUR: The National Union of Journalists Peninsular Malaysia (NUJM) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) urge the entrusted liquidators to ensure compensation payments to be paid as soon as possible to former workers of Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd. (UMMB) involved in the Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) following the High Court ruling on 23th Oct. 2022.
NUJM in its statement said, the court ruled that the former media workers of UMMB that ceased operations in Oct. 2019 are entitled to the benefit of the trust properties.
Meanwhile the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate-the NUJM in urging the liquidators to ensure that former Utusan Melayu workers received their compensations.
The IFJ said: “Journalists and media workers should not go without severance pay. Former media workers of Utusan Melayu are entitled to their unpaid compensation. The IFJ urges those in charge of Utusan Melayu’s estate to ensure that all parties resolve the outstanding payment as soon as possible.”
NUJM statement added, High Court judge Nadzarin Wok Nordin ruled that former employees of Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd., its subsidiaries and related companies involved in the VSS were legally the beneficiaries of the news outlet’s trust properties. As trustees, the employees have the right to be paid ahead of the creditors and will receive their overdue funds outside of the liquidation process.
“There were only eight payments made by Utusan Melayu to staff who took the VSS before a creditors’ voluntary liquidation exercise on October 7, 2019.
“The scheme required a total of 12 payments over 12 months, with the payments to be made to the new trustees after statutory deductions, debt owing, and other official processes were completed. The total owed was found to be nearly MYR 60,000,000, approximately USD 12, 500, 000,” NUJM said.
Meanwhile as quoted by bebasnews.my, (31st Oct. 2022), UMMB had offered the VSS in November 2018 in which 708 staff from various levels had agreed to accept the VSS.
UMMB had ceased its operations on October 9, 2019 after long-term financial instability. The news outlet first began operating in 1939, with its first publication in its final format in 1967. – Malaysia World News
