par Mei Mei Chu et A. Ananthalakshmi
KUALA LUMPUR, May 31 (Reuters) – US tire maker Goodyear GT.O faces charges of unpaid wages, illegal overtime and threats against foreign workers at its Malaysian factory, court documents show and complaints from workers.
Six former and current foreign workers at the plant and representatives of the Malaysian Department of Labor told Reuters that Goodyear unfairly deducted wages, imposed excessive hours of work and refused to give workers their passports.
The Labor Department confirmed that it fined the US company last year for overtime and underpaying foreign workers.
These accusations, which Reuters first reports, initially surfaced when 185 foreign employees filed three complaints against Goodyear Malaysia with the local industrial court – two complaints in 2019 and one in 2020 – for breach of the collective agreement.
The court ruled in favor of the foreign workers in two cases last year, ruling that these workers should have the same rights as Malaysian workers, show copies of the judgments published on the court’s website. Goodyear was condemned to pay bad debts and respect the collective agreement.
Goodyear declined to comment on the charges, citing pending legal proceedings.
(French version Jean Terzian)
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