Two Thirds Of Ex Kawaguchi Employees Have Found New Jobs Activist Reveals

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The affected Bangladeshi workers staged a protest after being made to work for seven months without pay.
PETALING JAYA: More than two-thirds of the 251 foreign workers previously employed by Kawaguchi Manufacturing Sdn Bhd have found new jobs, an independent migrant worker rights activist has revealed.
Andy Hall said of the 181 successful workers, 85 received their new placements through the labour department and local Port Klang community back in December.
He added that on Feb 6, a Johor-based manufacturer was given the green light to hire another 96 workers. The workers are expected to start work soon, with final approvals from related government departments expected within days.
Another 26 foreign workers are close to securing new jobs, Hall added, with a local Malaysian agent providing voluntary on-the-ground support to expedite the change of employer process.
Hall said that as at early January, 23 of the 251 workers — some of whom are owed as much as RM26,000 — had returned to Bangladesh after receiving RM1,000 and their flight tickets from Kawaguchi.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh High Commission is assisting with the repatriation of 11 others, whose immigration status is irregular.
“The fact that almost all who are still in the country are now, or will soon be, legally employed is good. And the fact that the workers didn’t get arrested or deported, that’s good too,” he told FMT.
However, these workers remain in “severe debt bondage”, Hall said, with some having racked up debts of RM25,000 or more, in addition to being owed up to RM26,000 in unpaid wages for almost a year.
According to Hall, the workers were required to pay recruitment intermediaries exorbitant fees to secure jobs in Malaysia.
As they were not paid their salaries, many of these workers had to purchase food and basic necessities from sundry stores near their Port Klang hostels on credit in order to survive.
“Their situation was and indeed remains dire generally,” Hall said.
On Dec 18, it was reported that Kawaguchi had agreed to pay the 251 workers almost RM3 million in overdue salaries. Meanwhile, the Putrajaya and Port Klang labour offices agreed to arrange for them to be employed by other companies.
The agreement was reached following negotiations which took place five days after the workers staged a peaceful protest outside the company’s Port Klang factory to demand payment.
In January, FMT reported that the 251 foreign workers, who went seven months without pay last year, were planning to drag two prominent Japanese companies to court in Washington DC.
At the time, Hall said the workers were planning to sue the companies for exploitation, mistreatment, and non-payment of wages. The suit is said to be still “pending”. - FMT

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