Group condemns alleged govt harassment of union leader
The international labour union group, IndustriAll, has condemned the alleged harassment against National Union of Transport Equipment and Allied Workers (NUTEAW) general secretary N Gopalkishnam.
“IndustriAll calls on the Malaysian government to respect this trade union leader’s freedom of expression and stop all investigations against Gopalkishnam...
The international labour union group IndustriAll has condemned the alleged harassment against National Union of Transport Equipment and Allied Workers (Nuteaw) general secretary N Gopalkishnam.
“IndustriAll calls on the Malaysian government to respect this trade union leader’s freedom of expression and stop all investigations against Gopalkishnam.
“To fight Covid-19, all governments need trade unions to act as their eyes and ears in workplaces to prevent the spread of the coronavirus,” it said in a statement yesterday.
Malaysiakini has contacted the Home Ministry for comment and is awaiting a response.
This followed a UK Channel 4 interview aired in June where Gopalkishnam urged hospitals in the UK not to buy rubber gloves made in factories that don’t respect human rights.
IndustriAll claimed that following the airing of the interview, Home Ministry officials had called Gopalkishnam several times and turned up at Nuteaw’s office unannounced.
This culminated in a meeting on the morning of July 24.
IndustriAll quoted Gopalkishnam as saying: “It puzzles me that, during the meeting, the Home Ministry officers were only interested in persons behind the video and my contacts in the factory.
“Why don’t they care about workers’ health and violation of social distancing rules in the factory?”
The Channel 4 video had accused rubber glove manufacturer Top Glove of exploitative labour practices and lack of social distancing for its workers.
For the record, the Human Resources Ministry has dismissed allegations of forced labour against Top Glove following an investigation it conducted.
However, it had found that Top Glove had indeed breached the movement control order’s restrictions, as well as provided its workers with cramped quarters.
Gopalkishnam had disputed the ministry’s finding, saying that the cramped living conditions are an indicator of forced labour.
A Labour Department source had told Malaysiakini that the department had approved Top Glove’s application for its workers to clock up more than 104 hours of overtime per month, due to a shortage of workers.
