BUTTERWORTH, MALAYSIA - Some 1,000-odd workers of a listed company here have been left in the lurch after being informed that the factory is closing shop.

The Nikko Electronics Bhd workers were informed of the Hong Kong-based company's decision to cease operations here when they turned up for work on Monday.

They were told that the board of directors decided to wind up the company's operations as it had been running at a loss for the past three years.

Shocked by the news, the workers gathered at the Labour Office here to seek advice on their next course of action.

Storekeeper M. Chandran, 43, said he was at a loss how he was going to feed his family now that he was out of a job.
Chandran, who is the sole breadwinner in his family, said he used to earn about RM1,000 a month working at the factory in the Prai Industrial Zone here.

"I have been working here for 15 years. I cannot believe they are going to close down just like that," he said, adding that the management should have warned the workers earlier so they could find other jobs.

Supervisor T. Ravi, 43, said the company had offered to pay workers the June salary while the payment of other retrenchment benefits would be discussed with the Labour Department.

Meanwhile, state Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) representative V. Vijayan said apart from the salary, workers were also entitled to compensation on their annual leave and other retrenchment benefits.

He said the MTUC would help the workers get the appropriate compensation.

Meanwhile, InvestPenang executive committee chairman Datuk Lee Kah Choon said that the Labour Department was only informed yesterday that the company was halting its operations.

"The affected workers are expected to file their claims at the magistrates court tomorrow."

Lee said the state government would work with the Labour Department to help the 947 affected workers -- 73 of them foreigners -- to get everything that was owed to them.

"What the management has done is irresponsible.

" We are trying to work out a solution for the workers and want to help the company dispose of its factory to other investors who may be interested to purchase the facility in Seberang Prai," he added.

Lee said efforts by the state government to reach company officials at Nikko Electronics had so far been futile.

The company has been operating in Penang for the past 15 years.