Goodyear Tire accused of labor abuse in Malaysia

Goodyear, an American tire producer, is said to be facing labor abuse accusations after foreign workers in its factory in Malaysia filed complaints about unpaid wages, threats, and unlawful overtime.

Based on the court documents, the labor department in Malaysia, along with six current and former foreign workers, said that the company unduly deducted their salaries, restricted them from accessing their passports, and made them work overtime, as per Reuters.

Allegations against Goodyear

Malaysia’s labor department confirmed that it already fined Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in 2020 for underpaying and overworking its foreign laborers. One of the former employees told Reuters that his passport was illegally confiscated and kept from him for years. As proof, he showed an acknowledgment memo he signed in January 2020 after retrieving his passport eight years after he was hired by the tire maker.

The allegations against Goodyear Malaysia emerged after 185 workers filed three complaints. It was said that two were brought to court in 2019 and one in 2020. They accused the firm of not giving them annual bonuses, pay increases, and shift allowances that are normally part of local workers’ benefits.

As proof, the lawyer of the laborers submitted at least 150 payslips to court, and these show unpaid wages of some migrants who were working for as much as 229 hours per month due to excessive overtime. This number is said to have exceeded the 104 hours limit set by the Malaysian government for workers.

Chandra Segaran Rajandran, the lawyer of the complainants, said that his clients claimed that the amount of the unpaid wages has climbed to 5 million ringgit or around $1.21 million. The foreign workers who filed the complaints against Goodyear are from Myanmar, India, and Nepal.

The court ruling and Goodyear’s response

In the two cases filed in 2019, the court reportedly sided with the foreign workers and ordered Goodyear to pay back their salaries and comply with the collective agreement. Goodyear Malaysia argued that the foreign workers are not entitled to the benefits of the collective agreement as they are not part of the union, so it has challenged the verdict and appealed in court. The results of the appeal will be handed down on July 26.

Meanwhile, Goodyear’s spokesman sent an email to the Beacon Journal when requested comments on the issue.

"Goodyear is aware of the lawsuits and of the recent judicial review involving Goodyear Malaysia Berhad, which are awaiting the decisions of the Industrial Court and judicial review at the High Court,” the company said. “Any questions posed related to the pending litigation, Goodyear cannot comment on them.