By STEPHEN THEN

MIRI, MALAYSIA - Employees of oil-giant Sarawak Shell are seeking Government intervention in an impending large-scale retrenchment exercise.

The Sarawak Shell Staff Union, which represents 2,700 workers, submitted a memorandum of appeal to the state government yesterday through Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam.

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

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

'The union wants the Shell management to implement a scheme that will see the redeployment of staff instead of a retrenchment exercise.

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

'Shell said foreign workers would be asked to leave first, but did not give any guarantee that locals would not be retrenched en masse also.

'Shell has not given any figures on how many workers in Sarawak will be retrenched,' he said after meeting Dr Chan.

Dr Chan said he would speak to the Shell top management in the country and also its regional headquarters in Singapore on the matter.

Shell has been in Sarawak for 100 years.