Retrenched employees of Sanmina-SCI cry for help

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KUCHING: Employees of Sanmina-SCI Corporation (M) Sdn Bhd, who are still shell-shocked to be served retrenchment letters yesterday, are appealing to the state government to intervene as they are in dire straits.

Several of the affected employees told The Borneo Post outside the plant in Samajaya Free Industrial Zone that they were disappointed with the way they were laid off.

“The state government must intervene immediately because a lot of us are affected,” said James Jalai, who used to hold the post of senior supervisor.

“It is okay if the factory needs to close down, but they should compensate us reasonably and give us notice so that we can make preparations.”

James, who had worked for more than 10 years with Sanmina-SCI, added that the state government should also realise that when the plant closed down it would also afffect vendors and material suppliers.

His view was echoed by Sila Robin, who was still level three lab technician Sila Robin on Tuesday. Sila suggested that Sanmina-SCI compensated them the way they went about their Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) in 2009 and the Mutual Separation Scheme (MSS) in 2010.

“For the VSS, the employees were offered 1.5-month salary and prorated bonus, among others, while for the MSS the employees were offered 1.2-month salary,” said Sila.

“We are unhappy because we were only given about 0.7 months of our salary, and that is for those who worked for more than five years. For those who worked less than five years, they will get less.”

Sila, who had been with plant for seven years, said former employees who had gathered outside the plant yesterday were not only fighting for better compensation for themselves but also for those who were experiencing the same fate.

“We have our families to take care of. If this is the amount that we get, how are we going to survive after this? Moreover, it is not easy to find job now,” he bemoaned.

“We are deeply affected, and we are pleading for the company to cover us for between six months and one year.”

Sila claimed that the basic salary of plant operators were only between RM420 and RM460, which was lower than the minimum amount as stipulated by the Labour Department.

“Besides that, employees working here did not have any increment for the past four years,” he claimed.