A group of retrenched workers from SME Ordnance Sdn Bhd has given a two-week ultimatum to the ammunition company to respond to their demands on unpaid retrenchment compensation or risk being sued.
National Union of Petroleum and Chemical Industry Workers Peninsular Malaysia (NUPCIW) secretary-general Abdul Halim Mansor, who represented the distressed workers, said they were done with any further negotiation as SME Ordnance had broken its promise to pay their retrenchment compensation on a monthly basis.
“We will give the company 14 days (to respond) before we file a case in the High Court in Shah Alam and sue the company for CBT (criminal breach of trust).
“They still owe 193 workers, who are union members, a total of RM8 million worth of retrenchment compensation. I hope the owner of the company will be honest and not hide or run away,” he told reporters today.
Halim led about 50 workers in a peaceful picket in front of the National Aerospace & Defence Industries Sdn Bhd (Nadi) building at Subang Airport that commenced at approximately 12.15pm today.
The picket was observed by several Selangor Industrial Relations Department officers while police personnel kept watch. No representatives from SME Ordnance were present.
Halim said the workers, who were laid off on Dec 1, 2021, had claimed that their Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributions and Social Security Organisation (Socso) contributions have not been paid, although deductions were made on their salary slips.
In a picket staged during Ramadhan last year, Halim signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with an SME Ordnance representative for the company to pay the retrenched compensation on a monthly basis.
Recollecting the day he signed the MOU, Halim admitted that he was at fault for agreeing with the MOU terms after considering the welfare of both the employer and the workers.
“We knew of the company’s financial condition, which was in a very bad state. We understood, so we agreed for them to make the payments month by month. So the workers did not receive their compensation in a lump sum.
“We have also previously filed three cases to the labour court but SME Ordnance made an appeal with us and asked for a peaceful settlement.
“They said they intend to pay, so we agreed to the mutual settlement,” Halim added today.
SME Ordnance is a subsidiary of Nadi. The Finance Ministry is a shareholder of Nadi.
On its website, SME Ordnance is described as a Malaysian defence company that specialises in the manufacturing and marketing of ordnance from a factory located in Batu Arang.
SME Ordnance was formerly known as Syarikat Malaysia Explosive Sdn Bhd.
‘Enough is enough! We are not beggars’
Among the workers present at the picket was Norul Azyan Ibrahim @ Mokhtar, 50, who was retrenched along with her husband who worked in the same factory as an operator and supervisor for close to 30 years.
“They still owe the both of us about RM180,000. We are done begging. We are only working as security guards at a school near our house now. We have three children to care for, and one of my children is already married.
“Since we have been retrenched, we have only been paid four times and that’s less than RM20,000,” she said.
Fighting back her tears, Norul asserted enough is enough and said the retrenched workers are not beggars.
“Why is it as though they are making us beg? A lot of my colleagues have passed away, while some are ill. That makes me so sad that we have not received what is promised to us.
“It’s so cruel of them (SME Ordnance). They have put us under so much stress that some of us have fallen ill.
“We truly hope they will pay up, this is so tiring,” Norul said.
K Krishnakumar, who worked as a radiographer at the company for 30 years, had since taken up a security guard job but was asked to take leave as he suffers from arthritis.
“My legs are swollen and each visit to the hospital would cost me RM450. I am waiting for the compensation money so I can seek treatment.
“I was supposed to receive RM80,000 but they have only paid me RM15,000. And we would only be paid if we staged a picket,” he lamented.
Now that he is unable to work, the father of two said his family depends on his wife, who is a seamstress, to bring home the bacon.
“Our entire family’s income is only RM1,500 and there are four mouths to feed. My eldest son, 18, is entering college soon.
“I just hope that they can pay us everything that they owe us soon,” Krishnakumar added. - Mkini
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