The plight of a group of Indian migrant workers who had been seeking shelter in a Petaling Jaya church will be brought to the ministry of human resources next week after attempts to resolve their situation with their employer failed.

Labour rights organisation Tenaganita said it will be filing a complaint with the human resources ministry since the employer of the 45 Indian nationals had refused to bear the cost for their repatriation and settle all outstanding salaries.

"We will be filing a case next Tuesday. The Indian High Commission has also written a letter to the ministry," said Tenaganita's Migrant Desk coordinator Aegile Fenandez.

The group of all male workers are said to be employed by Gopis Construction Sdn Bhd, a Port Dickson-based company, and subcontracted out to work as welders, fitters, riggers and general workers at a power plant in Setiawan, Perak.

A dispute arose after the workers refused to move to work with another company in Johor following the completion of the project at the Setiawan power plant. The workers arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday to seek the assistance of the Indian High Commission.

Bleak Deepavali

According to Fernandez, the workers had been offered temporary shelter at St Francis Xavier's Church in Petaling Jaya while they tried to resolve the disagreement with their employer.

However, Fernandez said a meeting between the two sides this morning for workers to claim unpaid salaries and resolve uncertainty over the workers' job requirements failed to produce a positive outcome.

"The workers told us that they did not even have a proper contract. When we asked representatives of their employer for a copy of the workers' contracts, they shouted at us and walked out," she said when contacted.

Fernandez said the employer had refused to pay the workers' salaries on grounds that the workers had not returned several safety helmets and that they had organised an illegal strike.

She said it is uncertain how long the workers are expected to remain at the church since they are unable to afford tickets back to India and their passports are still held by the employer.

"This is a very bleak Deepavali for these men. We don't know how long they will have to stay here," she said.

'Illegal strike'

Meanwhile, owner of Gopis Construction V K Lingam, confirmed that he attended the meeting this morning at the church but refused to comment further on the workers' situation.

"I was there at the meeting this morning. The workers organised an illegal strike and ran away from my site," he said when contacted.

Lingam said all further issues with the workers would be handled by his lawyer.

Under strict foreign worker employment guidelines, the government had banned the use of employment agents and labour subcontractors in hiring foreign workers in an attempt to stop illegal worker entry into the country.

Immigration laws also forbid transfer of workers from one company to another since migrant workers are considered illegally employed if they are found to be working with any employer other than the one which originally applied for their work permits.

Last February, the government announced that Indian workers would only be allowed to be brought in to work in plantations.

However, it is uncertain how the 45 Indian workers, who arrived in staggered batches since June this year, ended up with work permits with a construction firm.