THE National Union of Journalists Peninsular Malaysia (NUJ) has condemned Media Prima Bhd’s decision to cut more than 1,000 workers by the first quarter of 2020.

NUJ general secretary Chin Sung Chew wants an immediate review of the strategy .

He said the termination of employment will be based on the mechanism of last in, first out (LIFO) and it will also be based on several factors, including health and discipline.

“The number involved in the layoffs will be discussed with the management. The company will announce the list of the workers who will lose jobs by the end of December. The layoffs will involve every department, including staff and management personnel.

“Some workers in the units will be downsized and others will be closed. The town hall session with the management will be held on November 15.

“It is regrettable and the NUJ condemns the decision made by Media Prima Bhd,” Chin said in a statement today.

Media Prima owns several newspapers, such as New Straits Times Press (NSTP), Berita Harian, and Harian Metro together with television channels such as TV3, ntv7, 8TV, and TV9, four radio stations, websites, and several billboard advertising companies.

On November 1, Media Prima, in a statement circulated for its employees, announced the plan to have “substantial reduction in its workforce”.

It claimed that the company has done everything they possibly could to minimise the impact, including to reduce the operational costs and assess its operations. 

Chin further said the job cuts will affect the editorial staff across three brands, photographers, advertisement marketing, advertisement support, advertisement sales, production division as well as circulation and sales. 

He said the body is very much concerned with the dilemma and difficulties faced by media companies during this current economic downturn.

“But we also remind the executive board who manage the media companies or media groups not to tolerate any form of political deception whose idea is to kill off the media practitioners, especially reporters, by restructuring the company as an excuse. We do not hope to see any media in the country controlled by politicians.

“The media should be free from any influence of political parties, irrespective of the ruling  government or opposition party,” he said. 

Malaysiakini previously reported that the decision came after tycoon Syed Mokhtar Albukhary’s enlargement of his stake in Media Prima through Aurora Mulia Sdn Bhd.

Aurora Mulia is believed to have a 32% stake in Media Prima, making it the largest individual shareholder.

Syed Mokhtar also owns printing permits for Utusan Malaysia, Mingguan Malaysia, Kosmo! and Malaysian Reserve. – November 5, 2019.