US tire firm accused of labor abuse in Malaysia
Print Edition
American tire manufacturer Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co is facing accusations of unpaid wages, unlawful overtime and threats to foreign workers at its Malaysian factory, according to court documents and complaints filed by workers.
Six current and former foreign workers, and officials with Malaysia’s labor department, said Goodyear made wrongful salary deductions, required excessive hours and denied workers full access to their passports.
The department confirmed it had fined Goodyear in 2020 for overworking and underpaying foreign staff. One former worker said the company illegally kept his passport, showing an acknowledgement letter he signed in January 2020 upon getting it back eight years after he started working at Goodyear.
The allegations initially surfaced when 185 foreign workers filed three complaints against Goodyear Malaysia in the country’s industrial court, two in 2019 and one in 2020, over non-compliance with a collective labor agreement. The workers alleged the company was not giving them shift allowances, annual bonuses and pay hikes even though these benefits were available to local staff, who are represented by a labor union.
Collective agreement
The court ruled in favor of the foreign workers in two of the cases last year, saying they were entitled to the same rights as Malaysian employees, according to copies of the judgment published on the court’s website. Goodyear was ordered to pay back wages and comply with the collective agreement, according to the judgment and the workers’ lawyer.
About 150 payslips, which the lawyer said were submitted to the court as evidence of unpaid wages, showed some migrants working up to 229 hours a month in overtime, exceeding the 104-hour Malaysian limit.
The foreign workers are claiming about 5 million ringgit (US$1.21 million) in unpaid wages, said their lawyer, Chandra Segaran Rajendran. The workers are from Nepal, Myanmar and India. “They are put in a situation where they are being denied their full rights as what is provided for (by law),” he said, adding that it amounted to “discrimination.”
Goodyear, one of the world’s largest tire makers, has challenged both verdicts at the high court. The decision is expected on July 26. The verdict for the third case, over the same issues, is due in the coming weeks.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
