“Please, We Want to Return Home”

IS THIS COMPANY PRACTICING FORCE LABOR?

More than 100 workers ran away from this company, said the workers who are so afraid to reveal anything. Such fear when they are on the right side of the law speaks volume of our poor administration and enforcement.

There was one Vietnamese worker, very ill and pleaded with the company for proper medical care for weeks! He was denied. He could not take the pain anymore and finally decided to run away from the ‘torture’. Another worker, after a long work shift, was sleeping in the hostel and suddenly something fell on her from the running ceiling fan. Her leg was badly injured and had to go through surgery but there was no insurance. She had to fork out her some money with help of friends for the treatment though it’s an accident that happened in a hostel provided by the employer. This worker is still suffering from the injury. Another employee, who had abdominal surgery back home in Nepal is struggling to get proper follow-up medical care in Malaysia simply because the medicines are expensive. With an extremely low salary, she can’t afford it. How long does she have to suffer the pain despite her numerous pleas to return home? The management demanded her to pay RM2,850 for plane ticket, even though that was deducted from her salary and some amount was paid by her husband. Yet she is still in the country. Has the employer made any effort to follow government procedure to apply for her return?

Figure 1: A plea to be sent home

She calls us, desperate to return home, especially now she has to walk back home everyday because the company does not provide transport to their hostel, unless she does overtime work. The risk of accident or someone harming her is high. Another form of ‘torture’ implied by the employer right after our interview with the workers. She is no longer forced to do overtime but now she takes the risk of walking alone about 3-4 km after work . Her husband is freaking out.

The violations based on the information gathered:

• Labour rights by ILO standard as well as Malaysia’s Employment Act

• Minimum Housing Standard and Amenities (2020 Amendments)

• Government Covid-19 SOP

Despite the language barrier, these are the issues that I managed to capture with their effort to speak in Malay – a lingua franca indeed.

(a) Health hazard and poor health care:

• Women/persons regardless of their capability or capacity are required to do heavy work load such as carrying heavy load of fish or other sea food
• No proper diagnosis or medication for workers who seek health care from the company’s panel clinic. 

“I experienced HEADACHE, TOOTHACHE and STOMACH PAIN. My headache because of the noise of the machine in the factor. Sometimes I suffer from stomach pain because of the food but when I went to visit the doctor, I did not get any advice”

“I experienced HEADACHE, STOMACH PAIN and STRESS. Doctor did not tell anything to me, doctor only communicate with my manager”

Figure 2: Interview with workers on health issues

(b) Work Permit Expired & Not Renewed

• The workers are directly employed by the company as the workers said, they don’t have agents.
• Some of the workers’ work permits expired long ago and it was not renewed. Some of the workers want to return home as the Covid-19 situation put them in a very vulnerable situation, both financially and mentally. 
• Some of the workers, working less than 3 years and wants to return home need to pay the employer some RM6,000 while those who has been working for the company for more than 3 years, need to pay RM2,650

(c) Passport withheld

• The workers’ passports are with the employer.
• Those with expired work permits and without passports are extremely scared and worried if they were to voice out, the employer will call the police to arrest them.
• The employer is using police to threaten the worker. We saw this when we were there. The company security (was holding a huge stick) brought police to the workers hostel to threaten a Myanmar worker for some issue (we could not understand their exchange)

(d) Salary Deduction, Work Hours and Overtime rate

• The workers are unhappy with their salary and overtime rate. They are also very frustrated with the amount of deduction from their pay. The details of the deduction, missing in their salary slip. Their basic salary is RM1,100 but they only receive less than 50% after many deductions. I looked at one of their salary slips, despite overtime, the end pay was RM400.29!!!  
• The workers are scheduled to work on alternate Sundays, with RM5 compensation per hour which they are not happy as it should be double  or triple for Sunday work/public holiday
• Their work hours is 8 am to 4 pm but most days they are forced to do overtime which they are not happy due to poor compensation

(e) Overcrowded Hostel, Transport & Covid-19 Pandemic

• The workers were provided accommodation within the factory premise but since the Covid-19 and government regulation,  they were moved to the shop lots located at Taman Kurau Aman. 
• The hostel is about 3 – 4 kms from the company. Transport is provided for specific hours. Otherwise workers have to use their own means e.g. taxi or walk. The transport cost is also deducted from their wages. 
• The workers are charged between RM55-RM100 for both rental and utilities. There are additional charges if the worker uses a rice cooker or water heater.  
• More than 20 workers are staying on each floor. There are 3 ceiling fans, 2 bathrooms and a kitchen. Some 12 double decker beds.

Figure 3: One of the workers hostel

• The workers are so worried about quarantine, they don’t go anywhere, because of one past incident. Right after MCO ended, they went to shop at the nearby town and ended up being quarantined for 10-14 days without pay! More salary deduction.  
• The workers are not provided with proper sanitation facilities e.g. face masks at work and hostel. The workers have to buy themselves. 
• Some workers have run away during MCO due to non-payment of wages and workers were struggling to make ends meet.

Yes, Malaysians you should take this job

This is not a small company, I believe there are more than 100 migrant workers still employed. From online information, this company is a leading processor and exporter of frozen seafood products in Malaysia. Approximately 90% of their products are exported to overseas such as ltaly, Holland, other European countries and Asia countries.

Since Covid-19 epidemic almost changed every aspect of our life, many Malaysians also openly condemned the migrant workers, apparently for taking their jobs. They conveniently ignored the cheap labour policy, the millions of money ripped from the migrant workers including by local politicians and their cronies as well as the exploitative situation that most migrant workers are enduring. These Nepali, Vietnamese and Myanmar workers in this company is another example to add on to the list. While the enforcement is busy arresting the migrant workers whose work permit expired for their nationalism propaganda, the employers are free. They can continue to practice force labor and exploit workers until the workers cannot stand and run away – so much like the slavery era, running away from one slave master to another.

Ya, Malaysian government can stop the exploitation. Send the workers who are held without their consent home, not to detention center! Give the job to local workers, off course with better wages and benefits. Otherwise, the exploitation continues…..

Written by,

Letchimi Devi
19 Sept 2020