Unpaid Guards In Kedah Stage Protest By Locking Teachers And Students Out Of School
The incident took place at SJK (C) Keat Hwa (S) in Alor Setar, Kedah yesterday, 14 April.
By Tang Ruxyn — 15 Apr 2016, 03:52 PM
School guards at SJK (C) Keat Hwa (S) locked the gates and left everyone else stranded outside the school yesterday, 14 April, to strike against the security firm for not paying their salary for three months
About 200 students, their parents, 50 teachers and school canteen operators arrived at SJK (C) Keat Hwa (S) in Kampung Baru, Alor Setar, Kedah early morning to find out that the gates were locked by the school guards.
According to The Star, some of them had arrived at the school as early as 5.30am.
It was reported that by 7.00m, a teacher climbed over the gates to retrieve the keys and open the gates, having run out of patience.
A banner was seen hanging on a fence outside of the school with a message that pleaded for the District Education Department's interference to help them to resolve this issue
The guards urged the National Registration Department (JPN) or the District Education Department (PPD) to assist them in getting their pay, including the ones that are overdue, from a company called 'Millenium Protection Security'.
Additionally, the guards also requested for their Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributions to be paid in a timely manner.
The final sentence on the banner read, "We had enough".
The school’s coordinator, Lim Gek Leng, said that the guards have been offered RM1,000 each by the security firm as a temporary solution
Lim said the guards told him that up until this month, they had only been paid a total of RM800, when they should have been paid a monthly salary of RM1,600.
“They have been surviving on biscuits and water all this while,” he said.
According to the State Education, Transport and Public Works Committee chairman Datuk Tajul Urus Mat Zain, the said security firm is apparently having some financial difficulties
Apparently, this is not the first time that this security company has failed to pay the salaries of its guards.
Tajul said that there was a similar case that happened previously at the Kuala Muda-Yan district.
As reported by The Star, Tajul said that the District Education Department had already paid the company for its January services, but not for the following two months (February and March) as the firm had failed to submit its claims.