Malaysia's glove industry undeterred by US detention

Shares of homegrown rubber glove manufacturer, Top Glove Corporation Bhd had spiked more than 400 per cent year-to-date, creating more job opportunities during the pandemic.

However, on Thursday, the United States Customs and Border Protection (US CBP) imposed a detention order on imports from two of its subsidiaries, Top Glove Sdn Bhd and TG Medical Sdn Bhd, placing the companies on its Withhold Release Order (WRO) list.

The move saw Top Glove’s share price plummeting by 10 per cent to RM19.70, although trading was later halted by Bursa Malaysia due to technical issues.

Top Glove stocks were not the only casualties on Thursday’s trading, as its main competitors, Hartalega Holdings Bhd, Supermax Corporation Bhd and Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd also took a hit, which resulted in a total of RM10 billion worth of market capitalisation wiped out from the local bourse in a single day.

Top Glove said the WRO may be related to foreign labour issues which is expected to be resolved within the next two weeks or a month.

This was not the first time the glove maker had been put in a tough position by the US CBP.

In December 2018, the company faced the same predicament after a British daily, The Guardian, reported that its migrant workers were allegedly subjected to forced labour, forced overtime and debt bondage, and had their wages withheld and passports confiscated.

Top Glove, however, denied the allegations, and exports had resumed as usual.

Migrant Worker’s Issue: A Global Concern

When COVID-19 started to spread across the globe, the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur tweeted that 65 per cent of medical gloves used by US frontliners had been made in Malaysia.

“Through the production of medical gloves and other medical products, the world relies on Malaysia in the fight against COVID-19,” it said.

However, in June, Britain’s Channel 4 reported that migrant workers were only paid £1.08 an hour (RM5.77) and were forced to work overtime to meet the demand for gloves during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Putting things in the Malaysian context, a wage of RM5.77 per hour is considered as standard payment, even for Malaysians who work as part-timers in the food and beverages industry.

Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom (UK), public service union assistant general secretary Christina McAnea said the UK government had treated its migrant workers in a “shameful way.”

“Migrant workers are in the frontline of the fight against COVID-19 in care homes, propping up a neglected system that would collapse without them.

“Hundreds of thousands of care jobs are unfilled, yet the government is intent on cutting off a source of skilled workers just when the UK needs them the most,” reports quoted her as saying.

In the US, media reports said that migrant workers were either turned away or barred from receiving treatment for COVID-19.

On the contrary, migrant workers in Malaysia -- both legal and illegal -- had received adequate treatment and care.

It is important to understand that Malaysia is not the only country to deal with issues posed by migrant workers.

It is a universal issue which requires global attention. Cherry picking on the matter would not help solve it.