Intervene in workers' protest, human resources minister told

Summary:

• Workers at Kawaguchi Manufacturing have been protesting due to unpaid wages since April, with over 200 Bangladeshi workers also having their passports retained, raising concerns over forced labour.

• The Labour Solidarity and Learning Resources Association calls for the Human Resources Ministry to address workers' grievances.

• Despite a Labour Department raid in September, no concrete solutions have been provided, and the situation highlights the inefficiency of Malaysia's National Action Plan on Forced Labour, damaging the country's international reputation.

A labour association has urged Human Resources Minister Steven Sim to immediately intervene in a plastic company workers' protest and take decisive action to ensure all of them receive their unpaid wages and other owed benefits.

Labour Solidarity and Learning Resources Association (LLRC) general secretary Gopal Kishnam Nadesan said since the labour department raided Kawaguchi Manufacturing Sdn Bhd in September, no concrete remedies have been provided.

“There seems to be no end in sight to the Kawaguchi workers' crisis and the allegations of forced labour.

“This situation highlights the limited impact of the National Action Plan on Forced Labour on real cases where workers are denied justice. It threatens to tarnish Malaysia's international reputation and undermine foreign investors' confidence in the country,” he added.

Furthermore, given that some of Kawaguchi’s main customers have terminated their business relationships with the company, he said there is a possibility it may close down.

In such a case, Gopal (above) said the Human Resources Ministry must facilitate alternative employment opportunities in Malaysia for the affected migrant workers.

“Deporting these workers without addressing their grievances would be unjust and could push them into debt bondage, as many have taken on exorbitant loans to secure employment in Malaysia,” he added.

Gopal was responding to some 250 Kawaguchi staging a protest on Friday, demanding that the management pay them their outstanding salaries.

Enforcement failure

An investigation by the labour department in September found evidence that more than 200 Bangladeshi workers had not been paid since April, and their passports were also retained.

Following the protest, former DAP lawmaker Charles Santiago attributed the situation to a failure of enforcement.

“We are sending the wrong message, that the government of Malaysia is not taking forced labour issues seriously,” he said.

The Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights co-chairperson said the matter could have been resolved if the ministry had intervened earlier.

“But now, there are videos all over the place of the workers protesting. Every media (outlet) has got these videos. People will write about it, and then that brings more questions about modern slavery or forced labour,” said Charles, according to Free Malaysia Today.

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