In four separate reports filed over three days at the Port Klang labour department, the 57 workers claim the company, Kawaguchi Manufacturing Sdn Bhd, owes them RM806,310 in unpaid wages and unauthorised salary deductions for levy payments.
The workers, who had previously gone on strike to demand months of unpaid salary, claim in the reports the company has not paid them for up to six months from May.
Kawaguchi was already subject to an investigation by the department in September, which found evidence during a Sept 3 raid that it had not paid more than 200 of its Bangladeshi workers since April, and had also retained their passports.
The investigation followed a complaint by British migrant rights activist Andy Hall.
Unpaid wages, unauthorised salary deductions, and the withholding of passports are violations of Malaysian labour law and three of 11 indicators of forced labour practices, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO).
The three major Japanese electronics firms that source from Kawaguchi – Sony, Panasonic, and Daikin – also said in September they were looking into delayed salary payments and alleged human rights violations at Kawaguchi.
Last month, Sony Group Corporation told the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRCC), an advocacy group that monitors human rights abuses among businesses, its on-site audit of Kawaguchi found that the company had violated their supply chain code of conduct.
In a statement to BHRCC, Sony said it has strict supply chain rules that require suppliers to respect its workers’ human rights.
It said it also prohibits the use of trafficked and forced labour, including the confiscation of passports or collection of recruitment fees.
“We have requested the company to promptly implement corrective measures, including appropriate payment to workers, proper management of working hours, and improvements to its dormitory’s living conditions,” said the senior general manager of Sony’s sustainability department, Mitsu Shippee.
Kawaguchi workers have told FMT they fear the three Japanese corporations have decided to stop sourcing from Kawaguchi in light of the ongoing allegations, stating that they have seen the removal of moulds and related equipment by the companies from the Kawaguchi facility.
In an email to Hall sighted by FMT, Daikin said they understood Sony and Panasonic, which account for the majority of Kawaguchi’s transactions, were moving to suspend business with the company.
“Given the business risks, we have determined that we cannot continue doing business with Kawaguchi any longer,” said Daikin.
The Malaysian chapter of IndustriALL – a global union which represents 50 million workers in 140 countries in the mining, energy and manufacturing sectors – said the workers’ reports outline serious violations of workers’ rights and human rights, which was all the more worrying considering the possibility that the Japanese firms would stop sourcing from Kawaguchi.
IndustriALL Malaysia executive committee member N Gopal Kishnam said the workers would have obtained massive loans in Bangladesh to pay for recruitment fees before “stepping foot in Malaysia with the hope of earning a decent wage for decent work”.
“But, according to the facts we have gathered, they were abused,” he said, adding that they worked more than 12 hours a day without proper payment of wages.
“The IndustriALL Malaysia council demands that the employer pays these workers their wages and compensation due to them, (especially if) their contracts are to be terminated before the expiry of their term,” he said.
FMT has reached out to the labour department for confirmation whether any legal action has been taken against Kawaguchi given the findings of its September investigation. - FMT
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