KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here yesterday set aside a decision by the Industrial Court, ordering Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd to pay arrears of two months’ bonus to its journalist for 2009.
Justice Datuk Zaleha Yusof made the decision after allowing a judicial review application by Utusan Melayu against Industrial Court President Susila Sithamparam’s decision, made on May 24, 2011.
Apart from that, Zaleha also ordered the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), who was named the respondent, to pay cost of RM5,000.
In her judgment, she said, the Industrial Court had erred when making its judgment on the profit earned by the company.
Susila, in her award, held that Utusan Melayu had made a profit in 2009, and that in its 2009 audit report, declared its group profit at RM5.121 million.
NUJ had filed the case at the Industrial Court on March 23, 2010 when Utusan Melayu failed to pay the bonus of two months’ wages for 2009 to its journalists, giving an excuse that it suffered losses of RM26,169,490 as an individual company.
NUJ sought the court to order Utusan Melayu to comply with Article 44 of the Collective Agreement, dated Sept 5, 2006, signed between the union and the company. — Bernama