'Compensation offered better than what is listed in CA'

KUALA LUMPUR: The compensation packages offered to some 6,000 retrenched MAS workers are better than what is listed in their collective agreement (CA) with the now defunct airline, said Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan.
"It is true that the compensation packages are not in accordance to the CA because MAS is giving extra," he told the Dewan Negara today.
He said the normal compensation packages and ex-gratia payments are in accordance to the CA, but the 30% additional payment for the disabled, single mothers, couples who both did not get new offers in Malaysian Airlines Berhad (MAB) is new.
Under the CA between MAS and its employees, the Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) includes compensation payments calculated by having the years of service multiplied by a percentage as determined by the worker's grade.
Employees are also entitled to ex-gratia payments that amount to a month's wage to every year of service, while those who worked in MAS for more than a decade gets one and a half month's wage per year of service.
Other extra benefits include 12 months medical benefit or up until new employment is found for those who are not offered a job in MAB, employable skills training courses, entrepreneurship courses, and other workshops for retrenched employees.
Ahmad said 5,500 jobs have been arranged in 30 different companies including AirAsia, Hong Leong Bank, Emirates Airlines, and Prasarana Sdn Bhd for those we were not offered a position in MAB.
He added 2,611 have already signed up for the 48 training courses offered in Corporate Training Centres (CTC).
"In total, RM1.5 billion has been spent on compensation payments, securing job offers, training courses, and other benefits for employees who were terminated from MAS," the Pontian MP said.
Ahmad said a bloated 20,000-strong work force is one of the major reasons why MAS was not performing well and only 14,000 jobs is offered in the new MAB.
The new jobs consists of full-time and contractual positions of four months and above, and he said 90.2% of those offered have already accepted as of June 12.
Ahmad said another major factor that contributed to MAS's poor performance is the failed privatisation of the national airlines in the 1990, and the government had to spend RM19.2 billion since 2001 to keep it afloat.
MAS's poor financial performance is also compounded by the MH370 and MH17 tragedies where billions in compensation will be paid to the victims.
He also said that German businessman Christoph Mueller was appointed as MAS chief executive due to his experience in reviving ailing airlines such as Japan Airlines, Continental Airlines, and Swiss Airlines.
Ahmad added that former MAS chief executive Datuk Ahmad Jauhari Yahya is appointed as a non-executive director as his service is still needed in MAB.