Bernama TV is flouting labour laws by failing to pay staff their dues since Oct 20, the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) said.
BTV yesterday admitted that it can no longer afford to pay wages and instead, gave its employees only partial back pay of RM500 for the month of November.
MTUC secretary-general N Gopal Kishnam , when contacted, said that the partial back pay is totally against the Employment Act.
"The RM500 paid does not clear BTV because it does not amount to full wages, as required by the law.
"The employees cannot go to the grocery shop and say, ‘My employer only paid me RM500, because of that, can you reduce the price of the goods that I want to buy?’," he said.
He also rubbished Bernama's assertion that it is not responsible for BTV's staff as it is only a minority shareholder of the privately-owned station.
"We are not interested in who is the shareholder or who must rightfully come up and pay. What is important is that we are the workers who have put in the energy and the employer must pay accordingly," Gopal said.
Bernama owns a 33-percent stake in BTV and is in charge of operations.
It has also been paying for BTV salaries using its own funds, but now BTV chief executive officer Ibrahim Yahaya said Bernama can no longer afford to do so.
MTUC has also offered BTV's staff legal assistance to get back their salaries. -M'kini
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