KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 184 gold miners laid off last month by their employers Syarikat Specific Resources Sdn Bhd in Raub, Pahang are upset over delay in the pay-out of their severance package.
The workers, who were let go under mutual separation scheme (MSS), were assured that they would receive their compensation on Feb 7.
However, as of Press time, the gold miners had yet to see a single sen from their former employer.
The gold miners complained to the Pahang Gold Miners Union of their plight which in turn sought the assistance of the Union Network International-Malaysia Labour Centre (UNI-MLC) to help them resolve the matter.
UNI-MLC president Datuk Mohamed Shafie BP Mammal said delay in payment by the company was unacceptable, as each worker had financial commitments and bills to pay.
“The company’s failure to pay their workers the MSS package on time is causing problems for the workers.
“The has let down hundreds of families by not fulfilling their promise.
“It is very unprofessional of the company’s management as they were good in offering the scheme, but did not adhere to the date when the payment was supposed to be made,” he said in a statement today.
Shafie called upon Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran to intervene and resolve the matter.
“We are calling for the minister to have a look into the issue as it involved a huge number of workers and their rights,” he said.
He hoped the ministry would look into the issue and find a solution to the worker’s plight as soon as possible.