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22 August, 2001The Taiwan-based company has closed, with no notification whatsoever to its workers or the trade union.
MALAYSIA: A Taiwan-based company called Syarikat Wire Malaysia, located in Shah Alam, Malaysia, abruptly closed on August 1, 2001, without any prior notification to either the workers or their trade union, the IMF-affiliated Electrical Industry Workers' Union (EIWU). When the 38 workers went to work as usual that morning, they discovered they were locked out. An unsigned, unstamped notice which was hanging on the padlocked gates stated the company would be closed for three months.
The EIWU has filed a case against the company - whose directors are mostly from Taiwan - with Malaysia's Labour Office and the Industrial Relations Department. The union is also providing the workers with shelter and meals, and although some of the workers have found jobs, the EIWU has written to other companies within the sector asking them to employ those who are still jobless.
The workers, for their part, are making sure no one else will be able to enter the company's premises either, or remove anything, as they have added their own padlock.
The EIWU has filed a case against the company - whose directors are mostly from Taiwan - with Malaysia's Labour Office and the Industrial Relations Department. The union is also providing the workers with shelter and meals, and although some of the workers have found jobs, the EIWU has written to other companies within the sector asking them to employ those who are still jobless.
The workers, for their part, are making sure no one else will be able to enter the company's premises either, or remove anything, as they have added their own padlock.