Just another sharing from The Star reporting on Sarawak Shell Staff wanna Swk Government to stop impending retrenchment.

Indeed it is quite true that until now most of the Shell staffs are still wondering where they will be put into. Some said that ppl will leave and some will be placed into new job. For me  I  tend to be a bit ignorant hence I’ll leave the decision to Lord.

Cheers.

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Published: Saturday November 28, 2009 MYT 3:31:00 PM
By STEPHEN THEN

MIRI: Employees of oil-giant Sarawak Shell are seeking Government help to stop an impending large-scale retrenchment exercise to be carried out by the oil and gas producer throughout this state.

The Sarawak Shell Staff Union, which represents 2,700 workers, submitted a memorandum of appeal on Saturday to the state government through Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam, pleading with the Government to intervene to save their jobs.

Union secretary Solomon Nayup and a delegation of top union officials met with Dr Chan at the Sarawak United People’s Party Miri headquarters here and appealed to Dr Chan to forward their plight to the higher state and Federal authorities.

Nayup said the management of Sarawak Shell had already notified its staff of the impending retrenchment.

”We, the union, want the management of Shell to implement a scheme that will see redeployment of staff instead of embarking on the retrenchment exercise.

”We are of the view that there are still many places where Shell can accommodate Sarawak workers. If they insist on carrying out the retrenchment, we want the government to help ensure we get higher compensation.

”Shell has said the retrenchment will see foreign workers being asked to leave first, but Shell did not give any guarantee that locals will not be retrenched en-masse also.

”Shell has not given any figures of how many workers in Sarawak will be retrenched. We are worried a lot will be asked to leave,” he said when interviewed after meeting Dr Chan.

Nayup said Shell had not given any specific date on when the retrenchment will start, but the management had made it clear that the retrenchment exercise was imminent.

He said many Shell employees, especially the young ones, are worried that they might not be able to find proper jobs if they were retrenched.

Due to the current unsteady economic situation, it would be difficult to secure new jobs, he stressed.

Dr Chan, when asked for his comments, said he would speak to the Shell top management in the state and country and also at its regional headquarters in Singapore on the matter.

”From the information I have obtained, Shell is carrying out a downsizing exercise not only in Sarawak, but also throughout the world in order to cut operation costs.

”It would be a pity if the workers here in Sarawak are retrenched because they are highly-skilled. They can be re-deployed to other sectors within Shell,” he said, adding that he would bring the matter to the attention of the state and Federal Cabinet.

Dr Chan said Shell has been in Sarawak for 100 years and it would be a pity if they have to cut down on their operations here.

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October 10, 2009 15:26 PM

MIRI, Oct 10 (Bernama) — Sarawak Shell Bhd/Sabah Shell Petroleum Corp (SSB/SSPC) will reveal the number of staff to be retrenched following a downsizing exercise before year-end.

SSB/SSPC managing director, Mohd Anuar Taib, said the companies were presently in the process of re-organising themselves.

Mohd Anuar, who is also Shell Upstream International Asia Malaysia vice-president, said he would be updating the Sabah and Sarawak governments on the progress of the exercise.

“The companies had so far conducted internal briefings for the staff on the management’s new organisation plan,” he told reporters at the Shell Malaysia Exploration and Production’s Hari Raya open house here on Saturday.

On the retrenchment of 47 percent of Shell staff in Nigeria due to the downsizing exercise, Mohd Anuar said the situation there could not be compared with the operation in Malaysia.

“We are going to be impacted but I think Nigeria is not Malaysia.

“Each area will be impacted according to the business that are being run in the area. Not one size fits all,” he said.

Yesterday, Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister, Tan Sri Dr George Chan, dismissed talks that over 600 Shell exploration and production staff here would be retrenched simultaneously, following the company’s downsizing exercise.

Chan, who is also State Industrial Development Minister, said even if there were going to be a manpower layoff, the process would not be carried out drastically but over a period of time.

He said although he had yet to been informed on the exact number of staff to be involved, he was aware of Shell’s downsizing exercise.

– BERNAMA

You may have read the news on Miri Daily News this morning saying that Sarawak Shell Berhad (Lutong) has decided to relocate its office to Labuan. Well, dear readers this is absolutely NOT true and I can only say that Miri Daily news has shown no professionalism when making such speculation.

I am just wondering if the eidtor sitting in Miri Daily news has got nothing to do or perhaps they are just too bored hence decided to make something out of it.

Miri Daily News should have consulted Shell Miri / seek clarity before making the above speculate.