THE Association for Welfare, Community and Dialogue welcomes various initiatives currently undertaken by the government, unions and civil society groups in addressing the issue of forced labour.

This comes in the context of sanctions and measures imposed by the US Customs and Border Protection on Malaysian companies that are seen as collaborators of forced labour in the international supplier chain, with regard to migrant workers.

In all the discussions and planned forums in the country on forced labour, what is obvious is the term “forced labour” has been relegated or reduced to migrant workers, or they are centred around legal circles without much consideration to the complexity of the issues involved.

To comprehend issues related to forced labour, one has to take notice of its overt and subtle practice in the domestic and multinational organisations, and the complex aspects of international trade approaches and agreements that offer a context for the practice of forced labour, which are rooted in a certain ideology.

For example, the debate and statement on forced labour in the country seem to ignore the international neo-liberal trade environment where a country that has a low-cost structure of producing materials and cheap labour is seen as a competitive advantage by international investors.

There is also an argument by developing countries that trade and labour standards should be separated so the developing countries would not lose out in competitiveness.

In the context of forced labour, one cannot separate trade liberalism from labour standards.

Is this not what the current debates on forced labour in the country is heading, too, where it is seen from the angle of avoiding sanctions, or from a mere labour rights issue without understanding how international trading approaches seem to contribute to forced labour?

Secondly, when one articulates the ills of forced labour, there is a tendency to focus merely on the international supplier chain of migrant workers while there are subtle aspects of forced labour that are also affecting Malaysians. For example, since the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a restructuring of organisations that has been done in bad faith.

Those who are not in the management’s favour have been transferred to other departments without mutual agreement and compel to work in areas where they have no natural inclination and skills.

The management of many companies have used this strategy to get rid of unfavourable employees. Is this not a type of forced labour?

There are also foreign security guards who work without days off and if they do take leave, their salaries would be deducted.

Is this not a subtle element of forced labour that uses remuneration as a weapon to compel migrant workers to work every day without rest?

It is obvious that the issues above are not much debated in the country with regard to forced labour.

Therefore, to address these issues, there is a need to take a comprehensive approach by applying broad principles that should be adhered to by the government, the private sector and the unions.

The core fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO) should be adhered to and enforced. They are the freedom of association and protection of the right to organise convention (87), the right to organise and collective bargaining convention (98), the forced labour convention (29), the abolition of forced labour convention (105), the minimum age convention (138), the equal remuneration convention (100) and the discrimination (employment and occupation) convention (111).

Unless these conventions are part and parcel of trade relations among countries and the subtle aspects of forced labour within micro-organisations are addressed, the debate on forced labour will only result in piecemeal reforms and will not bring much impact on the people who face various forms of forced labour.

Let’s adhere to the fundamental ILO conventions in broadening our statements and debates on forced labour. – April 17, 2022.

* Ronald Benjamin is secretary of the Association for Welfare, Community and Dialogue.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.