McDonald Malaysia - pekerja mangsa penindasan - lapuran Guardian?

Apa kuasa penguna? Adakah kita masih mahu membeli barangan daripada syarikat majikan yang menindas pekerja? Penguna barangan dan perkhidmatan ada ‘kuasa’ dan ‘kewajipan’ memastikan ketidakadilan tidak berlaku…

Pekerja di McDonald di Malaysia mendedahkan bahawa mereka telah dianiyai, dieksploitasi dan hak asasi mereka sebagai pekerja  telah dicabul.(Lapuran Berita Guardian)

...deceived about their wages and were charged additional fees when they arrived in Malaysia, resulting in a 25% deduction in their basic monthly salary....salaries were not received on time, leaving them unable to buy food or send money home to their families...“We didn’t have the money to eat because we were not paid regularly,”... “How can we go to work on an empty stomach? I thought it was a good company and I would earn good money. Now my life is damaged. I feel that I have no future.”

Adakah McDonald sedar tentang apa yang berlaku kepada pekerja yang kerja di Mcdonald ini? Ya, Mcdonald sedar...

“When we went to meet the managers of McDonald’s to complain, they usually said we were not employed by McDonald’s and they are not responsible for anything. One of my friends even went to the McDonald’s manager crying after he heard news of his child’s death [at home in Nepal]. He asked him to ask for his passport [from Human Connection, so that he could attend the funeral,] but the McDonald’s manager said that he cannot do anything. I would rather die than go back to work at McDonald’s. I will never work there [again].”

They claim that they repeatedly informed the company about problems relating to wages, salary deductions and passports, but received no assistance....“I complained about our salary to McDonald’s many times, and the branch manager … sent the message to McDonald’s headquarters,” said one worker. “[But] McDonald’s said they had already paid Human Connection.”

The manager of one McDonald’s branch that previously employed some of the workers claims that the company’s headquarters in Malaysia were informed about the problems the men faced: “The labour supply company withheld two to three months’ wages. The workers only had a photocopy of their documents, but they should have had the original with them. We are humans. We tried to help them with food, but you can’t do it all the time.”

Apakah yang McDonald membuat untuk memastikan mereka yang bekerja di McDonald mendapat keadilan?

Bila pekerja mengadu, jawapan Mcdonald nampaknya adalah bahawa McDonald tidak bertanggungjawab - kerana mereka bukan employee(pekerja) Mcdonald...sebab mereka hanya pekerja dibekalkan oleh syarikat lain('contractor for labour') untuk bekerja di McDonald...Mereka melapurkan masalah pekerja kepada Ibu Pejabat...

Pekerja yang dibekalkan(juga dikenali sebagai 'outsourced worker') dianggap sebagai employee(pekerja) syarikat pembekal pekerja - justeru McDonald boleh menyatakan bahawa mereka ini yang bekerja di Mcdonald ini, sebenarnya di bawah arahan dan/atau penyeliaan Mcdonald kerana 'bos' dari syarikat pembekal pekerja bukan ada di Mcdonald menyelia dan mengarahkan pekerja semasa mereka bekerja. 

Patutkah McDonald mempunyai obligasi majikan kepada pekerja yang dibekalkan oleh syarikat lain('contractor for labour')?

Menurut pendapat saya, Mcdonald sebenarnya mesti ada obligasi kepada pekerja yang kerja di Mcdonald untuk memastikan hak pekerja ini tidak dinafikan...Lebih baik, 'sistem contractor for labour' terus dihapuskan - bila pekerja dibekalkan, Mcdonald seharusnya terus mengaji dan mengambil pekerja yang dibekalkan sebagai pekerja Mcdonald...

Mengapa masalah 'contractor for labour' ini timbul? 

Kerana McDonald dan ramai majikan lain kini memilih tidak mahu mengambil pekerja sendiri... dan jika 'sistem contractor for labour digunakan'....majikan boleh mengelakkan tanggungjawab majikan yang biasa - tidak ada obligasi lagi memastikan hak pekerja dijaga dan dihormati...

Cara ini, nak buang pekerja pun senang - angkat talipon beritahu 'pembekal pekerja' tak mahu lagi pekerja ini dan itu...

Jika pekerja sendiri, terpaksa mempunyai alasan baik untuk membuang pekerja - 

(a) pekerja ingkar kontrak pekerjaan atau lakukan salahlaku kerja - majikan kena memberikan pekerja membela diri - perlu juga ada Domestic inquiry(Siasatan Dalaman) - lepas itu, kalau pekerja berpendirian bahawa pembuangan kerja itu salah - boleh pekerja adu kepada Kementerian Sumber Manusia - kes mungkin pergi ke Mahkamah Perusahaan...

(b)  jika mahu mengurangkan pekerja kerana tak perlu lagi begitu ramai pekerja - kena lakukan 'Retrenchment' - di mana, undang-undang menetapkan cara dan prinsip...saperti LIFO[Last In First Out] bermakna pekerja terbaru kena dilepaskan dulu...juga ada keperluan majikan berusaha cari 'kerja baru', kalau boleh, dalam tempat kerja untuk mengelakkan pembuangan kerja... Selain daripada itu, Akta kini juga memperuntukkan 'Retrenchment dan/atau Lay-Off Benefit' - ertinya pekerja yang dilepaskan akan menerima pampasan..

(c) pekerja sendiri boleh tuntut situasi kerja dan keadaan kerja yang lebih baik - tetapi 'pekerja yang dibekalkan' tak ada hak untuk tuntut hak atau keadaan kerja yang lebih baik di Mcdonald. Syarikat pembekal pekerja pun tidak ada kuasa memperbaiki keadaan kerja di Mcdonald...

(d) pekerja sendiri boleh menubuhkan kesatuan sekerja(trade union)...dan membuat perjanjian bersama (Collective Bargaining Agreement) dengan Mcdonald(selaku majikan), yang biasanya menambahkan hak pekerja....tetapi 'pekerja dibekalkan' tak ada hak sedemikian dengan Mcdonald..

McDonald cuba mengelakkan tanggungjawab seorang majikan ...dengan tidak mengambil pekerja sendiri... 

Justeru, 'sistem contractor for labour' memang tidak adil bagi pekerja dan kesatuan sekerja - tetapi kerajaan UMNO-BN telah membenarkan sistem ini mulai lebih kurang tahun 2006...bermula dengan pekerja migrant(asing) tetapi kini sudah melibatkan pekerja tempatan..

In 2011, 115 groups said 'NO' to labour law amendments ..and the protest continues

90 : Mansuhkan Sistem ‘Contractor for Labour’ Tarikbalik pindaan 2012 kepada Akta Kerja 1955

93 Groups:- Abolish the ‘Contractor for Labour’ system Withdraw the 2012 amendments to Employment Act 1

Malaysian Bar says NO to 'contractor for labour' and advocates just employment relationship

Malaysia downgraded to Tier 3 - Trafficking in Persons Report 2014 - contractor for labour system, etc.. blamed?

JUSTERU, majikan mengunakan sistem tidak adil ini kerana mahu mengelakkan OBLIGASI DAN TANGGUNGJAWAB MAJIKAN, mahu mengelakkan TUNTUTAN PEKERJA dan juga KESATUAN SEKERJA...Ini merupakan satu 'PRECARIOUS EMPLOYMENT PRACTICE'(Amalan Pekerjaan Yang Sangat Tidak Stabil)...  

PEKERJA harus mempunyai kerja stabil...tidak ada gunanya tambahkan umur persaraan, tambahkan faedah cuti bersalin, dll...bila pekerja kini akan tidak menikmatinya kerana kerajaan UMNO-BN telah membenarkan majikan mengunakan 'PRECARIOUS EMPLOYMENT PRACTICE'(Amalan Pekerjaan Yang Sangat Tidak Stabil)...Kestabilan ekonomi pekerja sekeluarga tidak menjadi keutamaan...

Apa penyelesaian McDonald dalam isu ini?..

Nampaknya, apa yang dibuat oleh McDonald adalah menamatkan perjanjian dengan syarikat pembekal pekerja (contractor for labour) berkenaan ...OK...tetapi bagaimana pula dengan nasib pekerja yang tertindas tersebut???

Tamat perjanjian dengan syarikat pembekal pekerja (contractor for labour) - masalah selesai, pekerja tertindas ertinya tak lagi kerja di McDonald....kini pekerja tersebut dan kemungkinan ramai pekerja lain yang dibekalkan syarikat 'contractor for labour' tersebut kini juga kehilangan kerja....Ingat...'contractor for labour' tak ada kerja ...hanya bergantung kepada pihak lain...kini mungkin pekerja tertindas tersebut juga mungkin kehilangan pekerjaan dan tidak dapat ketidakadilan...?

Apa yang McDonald sepatutnya lakukan?

1 - McDonald sepatutnya memastikan keadilan dicapai oleh pekerja yang tertindas tersebut. *Kini McDonald membayar Syarikat Pembekal Pekerja, yang seterusnya membayar pekerja yang dibekal...Satu dakwaan adalah '“The labour supply company withheld two to three months’ wages' - jadi, Mcdonald boleh terus 'potong' daripada pembayaran patut kepada syarikat pembekal pekerja dan bayar terus kepada pekerja...

**McDonald boleh jadi orang tengah selesaikan masalah pekerja berkaitan...atau membantu pekerja mendapatkan keadilan - bantu sediakan bantuan guaman, dll...

2 - Mcdonald boleh mengambil alih sebagai majikan semua pekerja yang dibekalkan yang bekerja di Mcdonald...yang ditindas 'diselamatkan' - kini employee McDonald...

3 - Mcdonald boleh segera tidak lagi gunakan 'sistem contractor for labour' - dan akan dari kini hanya mengambil pekerja Mcdonald sendiri...kini apa yang kita tahu adalah McDonald hanya tamatkan perjanjian dengan syarikat pembekal pekerja berkenaan -- ada berapa lagi syarikat pembekal pekerja yang McDonald gunakan? Agak menyedihkan bahawa McDonald telah mengunakan 'sistem contractor for labour' pun hingga kini.. 

Jika majikan susah cari pekerja...? 

Ada entiti yang dinamakan 'Private Employment Agensi', di mana tugas mereka adalah untuk mencari pekerja untuk majikan, atau mencari majikan untuk pekerja.Bila mereka menemukan pekerja dengan majikan, majikan akan terus mengupah mereka sebagai pekerja majikan, dan Agensi Pekerjaan ini akan dibayar fi untuk perkhidmatan mereka. Tapi bagi McDonald, letak banner menyatakan pekerja dicari pun, pasti ramai akan memohon...

Apa kena buat dengan 'sistem contractor for labour'?

Setengah majikan memberikan kontrak kepada syarikat lain saperti kontrak keselamatan atau kontrak pembersihan, di mana kontraktor tersebut akan datang melakukan kerja mengunakan pekerja mereka sendiri...ini bukan sistem contractor for labour - ini adalah 'outsourcing' kerja ...beri pihak ketiga kerja khusus, dia datang buat dengan pekerja sendiri..

Majikan perlukan pekerja atau tenaga kerja, 'contractor for labour' supply 'pekerja' saja - majikan arah dan selia....Majikan bayar 'contractor for labour' - yang akan bayar pekerja mereka selepas potong keuntungan mereka... ini macam sistem 'kangani' dulu, yang telah dihapuskan...ini macam sistem 'abdi'?...Lagi banyak pekerja dibekal bekerja lebih banyak untung supplier pekerja...mana adil? Mansuhkan sahaja...siapa kini dapat permit buat business sebagai 'contractor for labour' pasti untung banyak berterusan...Biar pekerja terus mendapat keuntungan hasil usahanya ...kenapa kena beri 'tol'(peratusan) terus menerus kepada pihak ketiga?  

 The factories and workplaces were allowed to just use workers supplied by third parties, i.e. the labour/manpower suppliers, who were called outsourcing agents/companies, and the said workers supplied by them at factories and workplaces were simply referred to as ‘outsourced workers’. For the work done by these workers, the factory and/or workplaces just pay the outsourcing agent/company, who then pay directly the workers that they supplied. This arrangement was most profitable  for these labour suppliers, who will continue to parasite on the sweat and toil of workers working for another who have work and need workers.

RAMAI TIDAK PEDULI KERANA 'KETIDAKADILAN' INI TIDAK LAGI TERJADI KEPADA SAYA ATAU KELUARGA SAYA ...TETAPI SEBAGAI MANUSIA YANG BAIK, KITA AKAN MEMBANTAH MANA-MANA KETIDAKADILAN DI MANA-MANA TIDAK MENGIRA SAMA ADA IA AKAN MENIMPA SAYA ATAU KOMUNITI SAYA... 

* Isu dakwaan ketidakadilan menimpa pekerja di Malaysia dilapurkan di media antarabangsa, mengapa media tempatan juga menyiasat dan mendedahkan apa-apa ketidakadilan? Isu telah didedahkan, tetapi sehingga kini tidak pun lihat atau dengar response dari MTUC atau kesatuan sekerja di Malaysia...atau adakah media tempatan tak mahu lapurkan kenyataan union tempatan? Apa respons daripada PKR, PAS, DAP,.....

***Komen semua berdasarkan lapuran media di bawah - mungkin McDonald sudah buat lebih, sapertimana dicadangkan dan lebih....

 

 

Employment

Workers for McDonald's in Malaysia say they were victims of labour exploitation

Migrant workers employed through labour supply firm allege they were deceived about wages, cheated of payments and had passports confiscated unlawfully

A McDonald’s logo is seen in a restaurant in Shah Alam, outside Kuala Lumpur. Migrants say they suffered labour abuses while working in the firm’s restaurants in Malaysia. Photograph: Mohd Samsul Mohd Said/Getty Images

Workers at McDonald’s restaurants in Malaysia claim they earned as little as 60p an hour and were cheated out of months of salary, a Guardian investigation has found.

The workers allege they were subjected to months – and in some cases years – of exploitation by Human Connection HR, a labour supply company contracted by McDonald’s in Malaysia to provide workers to its restaurants in Kuala Lumpur.

The workers, who come from Nepal, say they had their passports confiscated, in contravention of Malaysian law.

They claim they were deceived about their wages and were charged additional fees when they arrived in Malaysia, resulting in a 25% deduction in their basic monthly salary. Over the course of working at McDonald’s, this equated to the loss of months of wages.

Unlike in its other major markets – including the UK and US – where McDonald’s operates through a franchise model, McDonald’s outlets in Malaysia are company-owned.

The migrants also say that their salaries were not received on time, leaving them unable to buy food or send money home to their families.

“We didn’t have the money to eat because we were not paid regularly,” said one man, adding that some workers went on strike earlier this year in protest at late payment of wages. “How can we go to work on an empty stomach? I thought it was a good company and I would earn good money. Now my life is damaged. I feel that I have no future.”

McDonald’s Malaysia said in an email that it had ended its contract with Human Connection. “At McDonald’s Malaysia, the welfare of staff is a top priority,” said the company. “Earlier this year, we became aware of certain circumstances relating to services provided by Human Connection HR which were not in compliance with our standards. As a result, we have terminated our contract with them.”

The investigation, which comes just days after the Guardian exposed allegations of abuse among migrants making products for Samsung and Panasonic in industrial zones across the country, sheds further light on the malpractice of some labour supply agencies used by major international brands in Malaysia.

“We were not given our salary on time,” said another Nepalese worker. “When we went to meet the managers of McDonald’s to complain, they usually said we were not employed by McDonald’s and they are not responsible for anything. One of my friends even went to the McDonald’s manager crying after he heard news of his child’s death [at home in Nepal]. He asked him to ask for his passport [from Human Connection, so that he could attend the funeral,] but the McDonald’s manager said that he cannot do anything. I would rather die than go back to work at McDonald’s. I will never work there [again].”

Pinterest

McDonald’s Mid-Valley in Kuala Lumpur. Migrant workers employed here (not pictured) claim they were paid erratically by the labour supply firm that hired them. Photograph: Pete Pattisson

The Guardian spoke to 15 Nepalese workers formerly employed at four McDonald’s restaurants in the capital, Kuala Lumpur. The men worked at McDonald’s at different times over the course of three years.

Advertisement

More than half said that they had been forced to run away from their jobs without their passports or back pay, entering the illegal work market in an attempt to make some money. This would leave them vulnerable to arrest and detention by the Malaysian authorities.

Others said they had been forced to pay their own way back to Nepal after their passports were not returned by Human Connection.

Some of the workers criticised McDonald’s for failing to respond to complaints of mistreatment by Human Connection while they were working in McDonald’s outlets.

They claim that they repeatedly informed the company about problems relating to wages, salary deductions and passports, but received no assistance.

“I complained about our salary to McDonald’s many times, and the branch manager … sent the message to McDonald’s headquarters,” said one worker. “[But] McDonald’s said they had already paid Human Connection.”

I expected to earn money here. But I’m leaving with nothing

Nepalese migrant worker

The manager of one McDonald’s branch that previously employed some of the workers claims that the company’s headquarters in Malaysia were informed about the problems the men faced: “The labour supply company withheld two to three months’ wages. The workers only had a photocopy of their documents, but they should have had the original with them. We are humans. We tried to help them with food, but you can’t do it all the time.”

During their time working in McDonald’s restaurants, the men claim they were paid less than they were promised in Nepal. In some of their contracts it states that they would not have to pay the foreign worker levy, a charge placed on companies using migrant labour in Malaysia that is often passed on to the workers themselves. Payslips seen by the Guardian show that the levy was deducted, however, equating to a 25% reduction in their basic wages.

The workers also claim that they had their passports confiscated by the labour supply company on arrival in Malaysia, a pervasive but illegal practice that ties them to their employer and denies them the freedom to leave their job or the country.

“The supply company took our passports, but they will not send workers back to Nepal or give our passports back,” said one man formerly working at a McDonald’s restaurant. “Even those who finished the three-year contract cannot go home because they don’t have their passports.”

Another worker said: “Even when it is time to go, the company does not return your passport. I don’t know why … I asked to go home, but the company said they will not send me back.”

The workers who chose to return home have had to pay the equivalent of two months’ basic wages to a middleman to arrange the documents and paperwork needed to get them back to Nepal without their passports.

“I expected to earn money here,” said one. “But I’m leaving with nothing.”

The men also complained about the conditions they faced in the accommodation provided by Human Connection while they worked in McDonald’s restaurants.

  Pinterest

A hostel used by Nepalese migrants working at McDonald’s in Kuala Lumpur. The workers say up to 18 men shared the space, with most sleeping on the floor. Photograph: Pete Pattisson

The Guardian visited one squalid hostel with paint peeling off the damp walls. McDonald’s advertising banners were used as makeshift curtains. In one room, a McDonald’s trophy was propped up on a fan switch with “Best of the Best Kitchen Crew” printed on its base. At one point, the workers say, 18 men were crammed into the small flat, with most sleeping on mattresses on the floor. They shared one small, grimy toilet, which also passed as a washroom.

Firms profiting from their business in places like Malaysia can’t say they're unaware of issues facing migrant workers

Aidan McQuade, director, Anti-Slavery International

In a statement, McDonald’s said: “While local employees make up the vast majority – more than 90% – of our workforce, we sometimes work with established recruitment agencies which employ foreign workers, 

and sub-contract a number of them to McDonald’s in Malaysia. These staff members are employees of the recruitment agency, not McDonald’s.

“McDonald’s Malaysia made repeated attempts with Human Connection HR to investigate and verify issues of non-compliance shared by the workers, raising our serious concerns through both verbal and written correspondence. Because the workers are not employees of McDonald’s, our efforts to address the issues were unsuccessful, as were proposals for McDonald’s to assume responsibility for paying workers directly. 

In the interim, to assist, we authorised restaurants to provide food and provisions to workers affected while we worked to address the issue.

“Following the termination of our contract, the workers remain employees of Human Connection HR and as such we understand that they will either return to their home country or be redeployed to other businesses.”

Human Connection did not respond to a request for comment on the worker’s allegations.

Aidan McQuade, director of Anti-Slavery International, said businesses must no longer hide behind codes of conduct but should instead take proactive measures to ensure they are not profiting from exploited labour.

“The great tragedy about this kind of exploitation is that it is actually easy to fix,” he said. “Companies operating and profiting from their business in places like Malaysia can’t say that they are not aware of the issues facing migrant workers there. They need to take a proactive investigative approach to ensuring that, if they use labour supply companies, those companies are adhering to the law and corporate codes of conduct. It’s time for this to stop.”

• This reporting is supported by Humanity United