About 280 Bangladeshi workers have been protesting to be paid their withheld wages amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars in Port Klang, Malaysia’s largest port city, AP reports.
Kawaguchi Manufacturing, a plastic parts supplier to Japanese companies, suspended paying wages to factory workers for up to eight months before closing down last December after the two biggest buyers, Sony Group and Panasonic Holdings Corp., paused orders due to abuse allegations.
Malaysia and Bangladesh both received filed complaints from the workers and have begun diplomatic cooperation to ensure the small recruitment agencies and middlemen that exploit recruits on such jobs are held accountable.
Workers speak out about conditions
Workers have reported being forced to work 24-hour shifts and on holidays with no paid overtime to produce plastic casings for TVs and air conditioners. Kawaguchi also took their passports, delayed visa renewals, and provided insufficient housing.
A Malaysian labour tribunal ordered Kawaguchi to pay more than 3 million ringgit ($694,444) in back wages, but workers only received 251,000 ringgit ($58,101).
After the factory shut down, workers reported that Malaysian authorities forcibly relocated many of them to new factory jobs approximately 360 kilometres (220 miles) away without providing any explanation. Upon arrival, they were housed in filthy shipping containers that had been converted into makeshift dormitories. Meanwhile, another group of 80 workers was instructed to work on palm oil plantations – a directive they ultimately refused.
Kawaguchi and Malaysia’s labour department refused to comment.
Expensive loans to cover recruitment
While some workers have found new jobs, they still have significant debts after taking out loans to pay expensive recruitment fees. The International Labour Organisation’s office in Bangladesh says recruitment and migration from Bangladesh to Malaysia is incredibly costly, with a 2020 survey revealing that the recovery of these funds takes at least 17 months.
One of the protesting workers, 19-year-old Md Kabir Hossain, took out a loan of over $4,000 to travel from his hometown of Rangpur, Bangladesh, to Malaysia in November 2023. He later failed to repay one of his loans and couldn’t send any money to his family, in which he is the only one making money.
Parvez Azam, another worker, unsure of how to keep going, said, “If this goes on, we’ll die here.”
Aid from across the world
Panasonic, Sony, and Daikin – three of Kawaguchi’s former key clients out of roughly a dozen – have agreed to reimburse around $1.3 million in recruitment fees paid by the workers. The exact amount each company will contribute remains unknown.
Andy Hall, a British labour activist who has been aiding the workers, said, “This doesn’t cover all the workers’ costs, including interest rates of up to 30% they must pay on their loans.”
“They’re absolutely desperate, and they’re at very high risk of falling into even worse situations,” Hall said, emphasising that without the wages, the workers are unable to pay their loans.
Terry Collingsworth of U.S.-based International Rights Advocates represents the workers in talks with Sony and Panasonic, which are still ongoing.
