Illegal Indon wage dispute:
Arbitration process may be thrown out
From MalaysiaKini as forwarded by: Alex (Laman M@RHAEN)
Pauline Puah
May 20, 05 8:41pmArbitration over a wage dispute between 90 undocumented Indonesian workers and a local construction company at the Selangor Labour Department is expected to be thrown out following a second meeting here.
According to Migrant Care country coordinator Alex Ong, the legality of the workers has been used as a reason not to proceed further with the arbitration.
He said the department informed them that a meeting will be held next week at the Labour Department to discuss whether the case should proceed to the industrial relations court or be handed over to the Immigration Department.
“They also said representatives from Sri Mega Jaya Sdn Bhd (the alleged employers) did not turn up although they have been informed verbally. This is why the arbitration cannot continue,” he told malaysiakini at the department this afternoon.
Ong, who also attended the arbitration, said the department also required the workers to submit details of the work and their stay in Malaysia.
Representative of Sri MegahJaya Sdn Bhd had attended the first arbitration held last Friday.
Today, the company’s representatives did not turn up but they sent someone to inform the department that they would not be attending as they did not receive an official letter from the department.
Three representatives of the group of workers managed to return to Malaysia to attend the arbitration with the help of the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur and the Indonesian Labour and Transmigration Ministry.
When contacted, officials at the Labour Department declined to comment and asked that all queries be directed to the director-general of the department.
Disgruntled workers
The wage dispute first came to light in February this year when the workers accused the sub-contractor of a condominium project in Damansara Damai, Selangor, Sri Mega Jaya, of not paying their wages amounting to RM150,000 since last September.
The main contractor of the project is Plato Construction (M) Sdn Bhd which is wholly-owned by MK Land Holdings, a company listed on the main board of Bursa Malaysia.
The workers had written a letter urging MK Land executive chairperson Mustapha Kamal Abu Bakar to look into their plight.
A police report was lodged by a local workers support group, the Labour Resource Centre, against Mustapha for allegedly hiring and not paying the wages of the illegal workers.
MK Land, in turn, has denied that they had employed any undocumented migrant workers
On Feb 18, the workers lodged a police report against Human Resource Minister Dr Fong Chan Onn after he made a statement that Sri Mega Jaya had given the wages for the 90 workers, which according to him amounted to RM500,000, to an intermediary who has since absconded.
The workers returned to Indonesia at the eleventh hour before the amnesty period for the illegal migrants ended on Feb 28. On Feb 28, the claim was unexpectedly accepted by the labour department when filed by their lawyer Md Radzi Mustafa.
Funds running out
Lukman, one of the group’s leaders told malaysiakini that he is very disappointed that the arbitration could not proceed as Sri Mega Jaya has declined to attend.
“It is much more difficult for us now as the case has been dragging for so long,” said the disgruntled Lukman.
He said they were running out of funds given by the Indonesian Labour and Transmigration Ministry to support them to return to Malaysia for the proceedings.
“They gave the three of us about RM4,000 including for flight tickets, accommodation and food. The money is running out as we have been here for about two weeks,” he added.
Forwarded by Alex - 21.05.2005 (M@RHAEN - Emel: marhaen@gmail.com / reformasi@gmail.com )
