Supporting migrant workers: experiences from across Asia

Supporting migrant workers: experiences from across Asia

'We need to change policies and mindsets, track-down and expose the bad guys, protect workers via legal cases, and ensure that the full remittances get sent home. We are not dreaming that we will totally solve all of these issues but with union to union agreements, we can be more efficient in our collaboration.' Rekson Silaban, President, Confederation of Indonesian Prosperity Unions (KSBSI)

I have just returned from two week of travelling in Asia to meet trade unionists who are working to support migrant workers. The TUC is funding work being coordinated through the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) to support the development of partnerships between unions in origin countries (where migrants workers come from) and unions in destination countries (where the migrants travel to) in order to be able to support these workers in the best possible way.

We were based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and in Kerala, South India, and we met migrant workers coming from or going to Malaysia, Indonesia, Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia, India, the Gulf states, and working in sectors as diverse as domestic work, construction, manufacturing, retail and IT. While every migrant worker we met had a unique story to tell, there were of course some common themes which ran through the discussions that we had, as well as some common opportunities and challenges for the unions working to support them.

Of course, migrant workers do not always find themselves in a position of poverty or abuse. Many working people across Asia and Europe migrate for work in order to earn a higher income or to gain a promotion, or even simply to experience a different culture. Some can afford to travel with their family and have exciting, positive experiences. However, for every migrant worker in this category, there are many others who find themselves in very different circumstances. These might be workers who are forced to travel overseas to find work because of poverty or mass unemployment at home, who leave behind family and loved ones, and who have to place themselves at the mercy of middle-men and employers who may abuse or exploit them. It is these vulnerable migrant workers which are the focus of the ITUC project, some of whose experiences I document below.

It was interesting to see how many migrant workers we met shared common experiences. Practically all the workers we spoke to had planned to travel as legal migrant workers; they had paid large sums of money to recruitment agents to be a registered worker in a decent job in their country of destination.

Yet the extent to which migrant workers were being ripped-off by middle men or agents was horrific. We met workers whose pay slips showed a deduction for a repayment of a 'loan', when in fact, no loan had been made and this was camouflage for the imposition of a monthly levy. In Malaysia it was recently made illegal for employers to pass on the cost of the compulsory levy to workers; this is why employers are now calling it a loan on the pay slip. For other workers, they had been promised a certain kind of job, at a certain level of wage, only to arrive and be given something less.

Nirjan Kumar Rajbanssi, a 27-year old Nepali migrant, working in a furniture factory outside Kuala Lumpur told us: 'Before we came, we were promised a higher salary but now we are not receiving it. Also we had to pay an agent's fee too of maybe 4500ringit (£950) to come here, which is a lot of money. We are supported by the union now and we need the union to help us to tackle this levy deduction and also to ensure we receive the pay that we were originally promised.'

We met Nirjan during a visit to a hostel where migrant workers were housed. There on one floor of an empty shop, 24 male workers slept on bunk beds and kept their possessions, either on a shelf or under their bed. They cooked their meals in the same room where they slept. There was one toilet and outside showers. Someone told us: 'In the morning there is only time for three of us to shower'.

During their time overseas some migrant workers end up, inadvertently, falling foul of the law. Agents or employers would not properly register them as legitimate workers, they would be moved to new employers without the paperwork correctly following them, they would have to earn extra pay on the side because they were not being paid the wages they were promised, or somehow, the bureaucratic system might force people into illegality. This might be because their work visa was too short for them to save money, or because it was hugely expensive to renew their papers.

In Kerala, we met KM Naseer who had worked in Kuwait for nine years during the 1990s. He told us that: 'The agents cheated me. They collected 22,000 rupees from me before I left India; this was a huge amount at that time. I had to take out a bank loan to cover this sum. I was promised a job working as an airport cleaner, but instead I was given a road cleaning job. In Kuwait, this is very hot and hard work in the heat. Then I took some extra part-time work to earn extra money like hotel work, carpet cleaning, house cleaning, and car cleaning. I would work an extra 5 or 6 hours a day. As it was illegal for me to do the extra work, I only received half-pay from the employer. But this was the way that I paid back the 22,000 rupee loan.'

For some employers, having illegal workers brings them real benefits. If the workers become ill or injured, they are then able to deny all knowledge and thus any responsibility towards them. Illegal workers do not need to be paid the full wage because, being illegal, they have no recourse to the authorities to complain. For some employers, colluding with illegality brings them huge benefits.

But of course for the worker, being illegal places you in an especially vulnerable or precarious situation. You end up having to cover more and more of the costs of work yourself, you are ineligible for state support, and it is really hard to get justice when things go wrong.

While in Malaysia we met a male, 23-year old construction worker from Nepal, now working in Malaysia. He told me that: 'In September 2008, my employer insisted to collect 2500ringit (£530) from me to pay for my permit and insurance.' In early 2010, this worker was in a terrible industrial accident where he lost four fingers on his right hand. 'When I was then injured I immediately asked my employer where my permit and insurance was and the employer refused to help me and gave me no compensation. There was no permit or insurance.'

K. Somasundrum from the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) takes up the story. He told me what happened when he sought advice from the authorities about how to handle this difficult case. 'When I first met this worker he had nothing at all, including no passport. But his most recent employer has refused to accept any responsibility for the accident and for his worker. This employer says to me, you must prove that he has worked for us! So I then asked the advice of the director of legal division in the immigration department of the government about how to handle this case. He told me that if this worker 'moves one step forward or one step back' they will arrest him as he has no legal documents now.'

Some migrant workers that we met had found themselves in position of near-total subservience to their employers. Their ID, usually a passport, had been taken away by the employer 'for safekeeping' meaning that there was then an invisible chain linking the worker to the employer. Nirjan told me that his passport was held by the company. In cases of physical or mental abuse, the worker finds it hard to leave, because they would have to leave their passport behind. And migrant workers are particularly vulnerable if they find themselves on the streets without a recognised form of ID.

We met Supartiah, 37, a domestic worker, originally from East Java in Indonesia, who was taking shelter at a refuge within the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. She told us: 'I was working far from Kuala Lumpur and I was originally working for a family. After one year, I ran away from them because they owed me 2000ringit (£420). They had not paid me my salary. And then I worked for another family for six months and there I was abused. The abuse started when I made a mistake and I forgot to feed their cat. Then they hit me using their hands, and then their belts; they used a rotan on me and they even hit my head with a hammer. They also did not pay me my salary.' Supartiah has now filed a complaint with the police about the physical abuse she has suffered. 'But the trouble is that because I ran away from my first employer, I did not have a work permit with my second employer and so it may be hard for me to get my salary as they can claim that I was an illegal worker.'

In many countries, migrant workers do not enjoy equal rights with other workers. They may not be recognised workers in terms of minimum wage provisions, or be eligible for social protection or for public services. In Malaysia, migrant workers can join associations, but technically they cannot join trade unions. Also domestic workers - who are often migrant workers - are often excluded from legal provisions such as minimum wage or time-off requirements.

But nonetheless, trade unions can and do reach and support migrant workers, both before they depart and when they arrive in their destination country. Some trade union organisations are producing pre-departure training and information kits to meet this need. Building and Wood Workers' International produces a passport-style document for migrant workers with lots of useful information about the destination country, their rights, and contacts for local support networks. The MTUC have produced something similar.

When migrants arrive there is a real role for local unions to have an inclusive and open approach, and to support them. Having outreach workers that can speak the language of the migrant workers community can help, and it can be very important that destination countries are able to take on specific cases of abuse and challenge them in the courts or with political authorities in order to get justice. The MTUC has taken up the case of the Nepali migrant worker who lost four fingers of his right hand in an industrial accident, featured earlier, and the MTUC is also coordinating with Gefont, a Nepali trade union centre, and Gefont and its affiliates have several outreach workers based in Malaysia.

As Muhammad Ibrahim from Kerala, South India said: 'We need to open trade union centres and make it easier for workers to join trade unions when they arrive in a country'.

Mathews David will be coordinating the ITUC-TUC project work on behalf of the Indian National Trade Union Congress in Kerala. He says: 'Some countries and governments do not take a progressive stance on migrant workers' issues, but the establishment of trade unions can reach these people. They can give good counselling, phone numbers for emergencies, information about the country, talk to them about their contract, check if their employer is registered, and can give contacts of 24hour phone lines which they can ring for support.'

Governments have a big role to protect their own migrant workers. After all, national economies can benefit hugely from remittances of migrant workers, but ensuring that there are good minimum standards of pay, standardised agents' fees, proper time off and other provisions, can really make a big difference. The Philippines government has introduced minimum standards for its migrant domestic workers working in Malaysia and elsewhere, and this ensures Filipino maids are better paid, but without negatively impacting upon their overall numbers.

Rekson Silaban the President of the KSBSI union, one of the ITUC-TUC project partners says: 'The Philippine government insists on minimum conditions for Filipino domestic workers here and this has included an increase from 700 to 1400ringit per month (£150 - £300) salary and other provisions. This is what we need, as well as to ensure that employers follow minimum International Labour Organisation standard on wages, housing, social protection and other matters.'

Unions can push their respective governments to put in place such standards. Unions can also demand that their overseas embassy puts in place staff and resources to be able to respond to the needs of their people. The Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur is working closely with its migrant worker community, local civil society and the MTUC to help abused workers and to drive up improvements in working conditions.

Unions can also help to expose rogue agents and employers who abuse workers. Blacklist of agents that do not abide by the law must be kept up-to-date and publicised and unions can help with this process through passing on information.

KM Naseer from Kerala said: 'It would also be helpful if unions offered different information about the country being visited and also told us about which agents to use. The agents need a lot of monitoring and regulation.'

Muhammad Ibrahim agreed: 'We also need more and better facilities to help us to travel legally. Lots of workers pay a lot of money before they travel to be able to do so legally but they are cheated by the agents and then end up in the country being undocumented and illegal. The agents cheat them.'

Critically, migrant workers themselves form networks which support their own community. Well-established migrant workers from India working in the Gulf offer practical help to fellow migrants who find themselves in less fortunate situations and who need advice or support to get out. In the absence of formalised state support, sometimes migrants look to each other for the personal support they need.

In their very nature, migrants come and go. They can be hard to reach and for unions, they may not provide an ongoing membership income, which can put a practical constraint on the extent to which unions can financially sustain their support for them.

Nonetheless, Khairul Anuar Bin Ahmad Zainudin who works for the timber union in Malaysia, carrying out organising and education work with migrant workers says: 'Overall, I am optimistic about migrant workers' rights. If ultimately we can sign collective agreements which really do include migrant workers, we can make a difference. We need a continuous organising effort.'

Vicky Cann

September 2010