KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 2 — The National Union of Journalists Malaysia (NUJM) is ready to act as a mediator in addressing the issue of unpaid wages for media personnel at several news portals.
Its president Farah Marshita Abdul Patah said this is to ensure the rights of the affected journalists are upheld, and that all salary arrears are promptly settled.
“As the sole body responsible for negotiating wages and employment conditions for journalists in Malaysia, NUJM stresses that salary arrears represent a serious violation of workers’ rights.
“These journalists have worked with great dedication, yet they have not received the payments they are owed,” she said in a statement today.
Farah Marshita affirmed NUJM’s commitment to protecting the rights of Malaysian journalists and ensuring they are fairly compensated for their work. She also emphasised the importance of establishing unions in every media organisation.
She said unions would not only safeguard workers’ rights, but also ensure media personnel wages remain progressive, in line with the country’s development.
Farah also called on companies that owned the portals to immediately resolve the outstanding wage issues and fulfil its obligations to the affected journalists.
“Justice for media workers must be upheld, and no form of negligence should be tolerated,” she said.
Yesterday, NUJM and the Media Independence Movement urged employers to quickly settle the unpaid wages of a group of their journalists.
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil made a similar call today, saying the act of not paying the salaries of media practitioners for several months is completely unacceptable.
— Bernama
