Batu Tiga assemblywoman Rodziah Ismail today urged the Home Ministry to revoke the licence of Selian Power Security Consortium Sdn Bhd, which allegedly owes 62 security guards some RM400,000 in salaries.
She claimed the guards, many of whom work at schools in Shah Alam, were denied pay nearing the Hari Raya period.
“Until today, some of them have not received their pay for three months,” she said at a press conference with the guards at the Selangor State Assembly today.
The guards get RM300 in basic pay; with overtime claims and allowances, it barely adds up to RM1,000 a month.
“More importantly, the employer claims to have deducted their salaries for Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and insurance fees, but the amounts have never been credited to their accounts,” she claimed.
The aggrieved guards tried to pursue their rights through negotiations, meetings and demonstrations, but their attempts were futile as the firm was uncooperative.
“They (the security firm) did not even appear at the Labour Court hearing yesterday,” Rodziah said.
Moreover, she says the firm has defied a Home Ministry’s directive in February to pay the guards RM550 a month.
The Selangor state exco member for welfare also advised all the mistreated guards to pursue their pay and overtime arrears in accordance with the minimum wage.
Modus operandi of security firms
The guards action committee leader Zainudin Mohd Nor could not help but shed tears when telling Komunitikini about the alleged mistreatment and his straitened circumstances.
“During Hari Raya, my relatives came to visit, but I didn’t even have money to treat them,” he said.
“I was forced to borrow money from my brother.”
He also cried foul over the alleged repressive working methods of the security firm, which he claims delayed the payment of guards for two months on purpose.
“They do it so that the guards will leave the company, [so] the company does not need to pay them anymore,” he said, adding that hiring new guards is an easy thing for the firm.
He said many guards are senior citizens or single mothers.
Komunitikini was told that the Malaysian Trades Union Congress took notice of the issue and asked government agencies to pay the guards directly rather than going through the firm.
Another guard, who requested anonymity, said he has yet to receive his October salary.
“Now it’s already November 15,” he lamented.
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