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When the corona pandemic broke out this winter, orders reached the Malaysian company Top Glove. Malaysia is the world’s largest manufacturer of latex gloves, used by healthcare professionals, with a 65 percent market share.
No one is bigger than the Top Glove on the list, which annually produces around 90 billion disposable gloves and exports around the world.
– Conditions are terrible
Top Glove’s share price nearly doubled from New Years through October. Now, the company’s price and reputation are falling after revelations about the miserable conditions of more than 21,000 employees, mainly foreign workers from Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and India.
Following several extensive outbreaks of the coronavirus in Malaysian factories in November, authorities have launched an investigation.
Labor Minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan is appalled at the way employees huddle into bedrooms when they are not on assembly lines. Up to 30 people sleep in the same room.
– I myself have visited the buildings where they live and the conditions are terrible. I have announced if we will enter with all the resources. These are large groups of vulnerable foreign workers. If we do nothing, this spread can spread and we lose control, Saravanen tells the Malaysian newspaper The Star.
The Minister of Labor has shared photos and videos showing employees living in overcrowded buildings and dormitories in very unsanitary conditions.
– We will do everything possible to get to the bottom of this, promises the Minister of Labor.
– Irresponsible criticism
Top Glove management rejects the criticism.
– It was irresponsible to speak disparagingly of our business. The situation in the accommodation areas was good when the Minister recently visited. This was a surprise. We have asked for an explanation of what needs to be improved, Director Lim Cheong Guan said at a press conference on Wednesday.
This is how Solberg answered the question about the Christmas holidays extended by the crown in schools: – Idleness is the root of all evil. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Erna Solberg reported on the situation of the crown in Norway. 01:03 Published:
Malaysia had few cases of infection and has a total of less than 60,000 confirmed coronary cases. In recent weeks there has been a sharp increase. More than 3,500 cases of infection have been recorded at Top Glove factories in the capital Kuala Lumpur, almost all new cases of infection.
Malaysia’s National Security Council ordered the temporary closure of 28 of the company’s factories to control the outbreak. About 13,000 employees have been quarantined.
Barbed wire has been placed around two dormitory buildings where employees have been quarantined.
Criticism of the company is not new. Employees have counted working hours of 12 hours six days a week, hourly wages of 10 to 12 crowns and very reprehensible conditions in the factories.
– It was obvious that this would happen. This company has never been concerned about the well-being of its employees, says researcher and labor rights activist Andy Hall to the New York Times.
Delays in delivery
The demand for disposable gloves is at a record level worldwide due to the corona pandemic and a sharp increase in infection in Western countries. Nearly 90,000 Americans are hospitalized with coronary heart disease.
“We expect delivery delays of between two and four weeks on existing orders. It will also take longer to deliver new orders. We are trying to move production to other factories,” the company writes in a press release.
Company president Lim Wee Chai told a press conference on Wednesday that prices for disposable gloves may rise, but that he believes the situation will be resolved soon.
In July, Top Glove products were detained at US customs and the company was placed on a sanctions list. According to a company stock exchange statement, this was due to old sins, where the company until 2019 paid agents to hire foreign labor.
– We have a dialogue with them and we hope this is resolved. They know we are going through a difficult period, said director Lim Cheong Guan at the press conference.(Terms)Copyright Dagens Næringsliv AS and / or our suppliers. We would like you to share our cases via a link, which leads directly to our pages. Copying or other use of all or part of the content can only be done with written permission or as permitted by law. For more terms, see here.
