Malaysia, Goodyear tire manufacturer unpaid salaries, threats Automotive news

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., a U.S. tire manufacturer, is complaining about unpaid wages, illegal overtime and threats to foreign workers at its Malaysian plant, according to court documents and complaints filed by workers.

In interviews with Reuters, six current and foreign employees, as well as Malaysian labor department officials, said Goodyear had made inadequate wages, needed overtime and denied workers the right to obtain a passport.

The department has confirmed that Goodyear was fined in 2020 for overworked and underpaid foreign workers. A former employee said the company was illegally storing his passport, and showed him a letter of acknowledgment he signed to Reuters in January 2020, eight years after he started working for Goodyear.

The first allegations filed by Reuters surfaced earlier when 185 foreign workers filed three complaints against Goodyear Malaysia in the country’s industrial court, two in 2019 and one in 2020 for non-compliance with a collective bargaining agreement. Workers complained that the company did not provide shift bonuses, annual bonuses and salary increases, even though these benefits were available to local workers as they were represented by a union.

The court ruled in favor of foreign workers in two cases last year, claiming that they have equal rights as Malaysian workers, according to copies of the ruling posted on the court’s website. Goodyear was ordered to return the wages and comply with the collective agreement, according to the verdict and the employee’s attorney.

The lawyer said that because of the evidence of paid wages, the Reuters agency found that about 150 workers ’paychecks showed some migrants working 229 hours a month in overtime, exceeding Malaysia’s 104-hour limit.

‘Discrimination’

Foreign workers are demanding about 5 million ringgit ($ 1.21 million) in unpaid wages, said lawyer Chandra Segaran Rajandran. The workers are from Nepal, Myanmar and India.

“All rights are placed in a state where they are denied (as required by law),” he said, adding that it is “discrimination”.

Goodyear, one of the world’s largest tire manufacturers, has challenged both lawsuits in the High Court. The decision on the appeal is expected on July 26. The verdict in the third case, on the same issues, is due in the coming weeks.

Goodyear declined to make a complaint, citing the court process. According to a court ruling last year, Goodyear Malaysia argued that foreign workers are not entitled to the benefits of the collective agreement because they are not union members.

According to the ruling, a union representative stated that they have the right to join foreign workers and are entitled to receive collective bargaining benefits, even if they are not members. The Court accepted that the scope of work of foreign workers was entitled to receive these benefits.

Goodyear told Reuters that it has strong policies and practices related to and protecting human rights.

“We take serious allegations of misconduct related to our partners, operations and supply chain,” a representative said in an email.

The union – the National Union of Workers in Rubber Products Manufacturers – has not responded to requests from Reuters to comment on workers’ complaints.

Goodyear’s Malaysia operation is owned by the country’s largest fund manager, Permodalan Nasional Berhad, which has directed inquiries at Goodyear.

After litigation, fear

Employees said they faced Goodyear’s fears after filing the lawsuit. Goodyear has not commented.

“The company had different rules for different sets of employees,” said Sharan Kumar Rai, who filed one of the lawsuits and worked at Goodyear Malaysia in 2012 until last year.

The first two lawsuits were filed by foreign workers in July 2019. Shortly afterwards, Goodyear asked some to sign the letters, informing the lawyer that they would be out of court – according to the lawyer, the police complaints and a copy filed in October 2019. The letter was seen by Reuters. Reporting a complaint to the police does not always lead to a criminal offense, but it can trigger an investigation.

Industry Court President Anna Ng Fui Choo said in her ruling that the letter was “an act of unfair labor practice.”

The Malaysian labor department told Reuters that in 2020 Goodyear had been investigated and charged with nine violations of labor law, unrelated to litigation, overtime and inadequate wages. Goodyear was fined 41,500 ringgit ($ 10,050), he said.

In recent years, Malaysia has suffered allegations from its Ministry of Human Resources and U.S. authorities that its factories rely on millions of migrant workers to manufacture palm oil, medical gloves and iPhone components.