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BY ANDREA FILMER
ANDREA@THESTAR.COM.MY
GEORGE TOWN: More than 600 union workers of a paper mill company celebrated after a High Court here dismissed with costs an application by their employer to quash a Penang Industrial Court award in favour of their collective agreement.
Judicial Commissioner Nurmala Salim said no evidence was presented to the court by Muda Paper Mill Sdn Bhd to prove that there was a difference between the living costs in Nibong Tebal and the Klang Valley, where the company has plants.
“I find that the Industrial Court did not err in its decision.
“No in-depth studies proving a difference in living costs between Seberang Prai and the Klang Valley were presented to the court,” Nurmala said.
The Industrial Court had sided with the Paper and Paper Products Manufacturing Employees’ Union in June 2008 in their dispute with the paper mill company over five issues.
They were shift allowance, special leave, bonus, proposed salary adjustment and salary structure, and that employees working in the company’s mill in Tasek, Nibong Tebal, were given lower shift allowances and bonuses compared to the company’s other employees at its mill in Kajang in the Klang Valley.
Paper and Paper Products Manufacturing Employees’ Union consul K. Thiru Mangai was present for the defence while T.F. Leow represented Muda Paper Mill.
“I feel so happy. It has been a long road since we decided to take the company to court four years ago,” said branch union chairman Ahmad Zahed Hamid.
Union representatives also shared a cordial moment with Muda Paper Mill management representatives led by its general manager C.P. Tan who shook hands with them in the corridor.
Muda Paper Mill union secretary Mohd Sabri Cheani, 30, said the workers were ecstatic about having their rights upheld.
Source: The Star
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