Ever since MYAirline announced the sudden suspension of operation last month, things have gone downhill from there. Besides customers being frustrated with the sudden news, employees have also come forward claiming they have not been paid for a few months.
Many suspected that money laundering was involved in this case and a few suspects were arrested during investigations. While MYAirline has yet to give a specific timeline to refund everyone, some of their employees have already filed police reports against the company for unpaid salaries.
Yesterday (Tuesday, 31st October), it was reported that 20 MYAirline employees have filed multiple police reports against the avian company for not paying their salaries for 2 months. Speaking to the media at Sepang police station, the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC)’s General Secretary, Kamarul Baharin Mansor said that the suspension has affected at least 900 employees who were kept in the dark about the situation.
He also highlighted that the company failed to be transparent with their staff members saying, “It’s evident that MYAirline’s abrupt halt in operations was not transparent and lacked professionalism. Such a sudden decision has severe implications for both the employees and the public”. Apart from expressing the employees’ disappointment on their behalf, the General Secretary also urged the government to intervene and address the issue.
A few employees spoke with local media to share the struggles they’ve been facing with the company. Shahril Nazri revealed that some of his colleagues had been evicted from their homes as they couldn’t afford to pay rent while others are suffering from immense stress as they have family to support. When asked about his status as an employee, he said that it was strange that they were not terminated but they were also not being paid.
Another employee, Siti Zubaidah shared that she did not expect things to turn out this way for MYAirline, claiming that everything was going well when it first started. “It was definitely unexpected. Now we have no choice but to borrow money from everyone we know. The older employees have a lot of commitments but we’re now struggling to pay for those commitments due to the unpaid salaries,” she said.
MYAirline previously mentioned that they would be refunding customers and pay their employees as soon as they received funding but up until now, there has yet to be an update regarding the matter.
Watch the full statements from employees below:
Sources: Kosmo, China Press, TheStar, YouTube
