Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia Hermono called on the Tawau Labour Department to investigate allegations of bad practices carried out at the plywood factory currently facing unfair dismissal claims by a migrant who was wrongfully whipped in prison two months after his sacking.
Hermono, who goes by a single name, said according to sources in Tawau, Fu Yee Corporation’s poor management of its workers may have led to the company’s employment of undocumented workers, poor workers’ housing, low wages and underpayment of wages.
Meanwhile, the migrant worker, Sabri Umar, who had run the gamut of Malaysia’s criminal proceedings from arrest to acquittal in four months, having also been caned five strokes in that short time, would seek compensation for the injustices he suffered.
His first step, however, was to seek reinstatement through a wrongful dismissal claim he filed under Section 20 of the Industrial Relations Act and was currently awaiting a second mediation session with his employer and the labour department.
In the meantime, several parties have invested their efforts to ensure that Sabri could remain in the country to seek justice.
While his lawyers have applied for an injunction to restrain his repatriation, the Indonesian consul in Tawau, Heni Hamidah, has applied for an extension on Sabri’s immigration special pass.
On Monday (22 Aug), Hermono too sent a diplomatic note to the Foreign Affairs Ministry with an appeal to ensure that Sabri remained in Malaysia.
However, the ambassador expressed concern that Sabri’s case might result in negative repercussions on other workers in the factory.
Poor work and living conditions
Meanwhile, Sabri’s allegations of gross human rights violations that came to light following his exoneration were closely watched by more than 300 of his co-workers for whom his triumphs could spell positive changes in their work and living conditions.
The 31-year-old father of two from South Sulawesi alleged that his relationship with his employer started to sour after his active involvement in trade union activities in 2020.
Sabri was among 31 other members of the Sabah Timber Industry Employees Union (STIEU) in the Fu Yee plywood factory who sought their unpaid wages in 2020.
STIEU secretary Engrit Liaw said they were the few who demanded their unpaid wages while 260 workers represented by the in-house union dared not protest.
STIEU worksite chairperson Jumardy Baharuddin, 37, said the company had terminated seven migrant workers after receiving the workers’ demands for their pay.
However, five months later, the workers were all reinstated through cases filed at the Labour Department with the assistance of the timber union.
“That was the first-time workers were successful with a complaint at the Labour Department,” said Jumardy.
Among those who were laid-off was Mus Nasir, 44, a father of two who was claiming his RM1,270 owed to him.
He said it was during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, and his work permit had not been renewed.
“I stayed in the workers’ quarters because of the lockdown, and the union helped us fight our case,” said Mus, who is among at least 200 workers who joined Fu Yee before it moved to Tawau from Sipitang, Sabah, 27 years ago.
Paying overtime with coupons
Workers who spoke to Malaysiakini claimed that Sabri’s acquittal brought about renewed hope for better employment rights like paid medical leave and one day off per week.
Jumardy said the workers rarely were paid the minimum wage because they were daily waged and owing to various reasons, workers rarely worked 26 days in a month and were told that calculations were based on the total number of days worked.
He also alleged that the employer was still making annual deductions from their salary toward the Foreign Workers Hospitalisation & Surgical Insurance Scheme while also making monthly deductions toward the Social Security Organisation (Socso). This was despite the hospitalisation scheme having been replaced by Socso.
Jumardy’s allegations also supported Hermono’s sources’ claims that Fu Yee allegedly hired undocumented and underaged workers who were paid the least.
Apart from withholding migrant workers’ passports, Jumardy said, for reasons unknown, the company had collected RM1,000 from each passport bearer which was to be returned only at the end of their employment there, even if it was after 10 years.
He revealed that among the worst violations was paying workers with coupons for their Sunday overtime that were only usable at Fu Yee’s canteen.
“Each person is paid with coupons in denominations of RM5, RM10, and RM20.
“Everyone is paid a flat rate and not according to our respective salaries,” alleged Jumardy, adding that workers are forced to spend the coupons at the canteen because they never received monetary payments for their Sunday overtime work.
He explained that because cash wages were replaced with coupons, workers had no choice but to shop at the canteen, where goods were overpriced and sometimes expired.
But when questioned, Jumardy claimed that the operator said: “They can eat excrement if we sell it to them.”
Shared bathing area for men and women
Workers living with their families in allegedly tight spaces as small as 2 metres by 1.5 metres space also share a communal bathing area for men and women with no screens or partitions.
“The communal bathing area is where we wash our dishes and clean meat or fish before cooking.
“Women bath ‘berkemban’, wearing a sarong tied above their chest but there is no privacy,” he said.
In pointing out other poor work conditions, Jumardy said drinking water was dispensed through a rusty-red pipe that comes from a tank that has never been changed even after workers inadvertently drank fragments of a dead rat.
Taiwanese owner declined to respond
The Fu Yee Corporation is registered as a manufacturer and seller of veneer, plywood and sawn timber products.
Its factory in Kalabakan is located in the middle of an oil palm plantation belonging to the Tech Guan group, and a large yellow gate at its entrance is situated along a secluded, narrow dirt road that leads to the two-lane Tawau-Kalabakan road.
The factory is two hours drive from the company’s administrative office in Tawau town and is owned by a Malaysian and two foreigners said to be Taiwanese.
The Malaysian with 51 percent ownership, Chin Wui Chen, 69, could not be reached for comments.
Meanwhile, Hong Rong Ching, one of the Taiwanese owners with a 46.3 percent share, was most familiar with all the workers and declined to speak to Malaysiakini.
When reached, Fu Yee administrative officer Justine Yong, who had signed Sabri’s termination letter, said he had filed a police report.
Without giving further details, Yong also declined to speak to Malaysiakini. - Mkini
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