Glove company under US ban to reimburse its workers

 

A Malaysian manufacturer of rubber gloves has offered its migrant workers compensation and restitution of money deducted from their wages, according to an activist. (Bloomberg pic)

PETALING JAYA: A manufacturer of rubber gloves facing a US import ban over alleged labour abuses has agreed to reimburse its workers for deductions from wages and fines levied on them, according to a migrant rights activist.

Letters were issued to the workers on Friday, in which the company also agreed to part-recompensation of recruitment fees the workers had paid to agents and interest on past recruitment fees, said activist Andy Hall.

He said the letter stated that the company would also pay an ex-gratia sum to current and former workers for any related costs or financial loss incurred during their employment with the company.

Hall said the compensation payments come after years of serious abuses. He alleged that the workers had suffered fines and large deductions from their wages.

The company came under an import ban by US Customs last year over allegations of forced labour among its migrant workforce and breaches of US trade laws.

When contacted by FMT, the company said it would respond soon. - FMT