Chinese slave labour at Leisure Clothing, Malta: more shocking details emerge
The Malta Independent reports today, following on from the original details in the Nationalist Party’s newspaper In-Nazzjon, some more shocking details on the enslaved Chinese workers at Leisure Clothing. My column in that newspaper tomorrow is about this very subject, and on how we should demand to know why both government and Opposition – whichever is which at any given time – have colluded in this scandalous abuse.
The story reports claims that police, trade unionists, ‘high-ranking officials’, the Chinese ambassador himself, and people in authority were bought off with gifts of high-end clothing made by the factory.
For shame.
The enslavement in misery of other human beings is the price of a suit. How vile. The Malta Employers Association spoke out today about this dreadful matter. Other organisations should follow suit and step up the pressure for a thorough investigation into this corruption which has caused the suffering of so many and is causing it still. THIS is a real scandal. THIS is real corruption. It is not the sums of money exchanges, but the consequences that count. No amount of commissions on oil deals should eclipse the true magnitude of the enslavement of large numbers of people over more than two decades, for a few suits and God knows what else besides, unless we are perversely corrupt in our own thinking.
———–
The Malta Independent:
On signing the contract with the agency, the workers are made to pay €6,000 in order to secure the job and ensure passage to their country of choice.
The €6,000 fee is out of reach for most of the workers, therefore the agency helpfully offers to loan the workers the fee.
On their arrival in Malta, the workers are housed in dilapidated accommodation in Hal Far, just metres away from the ETC, the Employment and Training Corporation.
The paper revealed that the workers are paid mere “tens of euro” per month. Their Chinese employer justifies this by saying that the rest of their promised €600 pay goes towards paying the €6,000 loan, as well as accommodation and food.
The Asian workers reportedly have their passports and other identity documents taken away from them by Leisure Clothing for “security reasons”.
In a report yesterday, In-Nazzjon said that a number of authorities and high-ranking officials, including the Chinese ambassador, members of the police corps and unionists have been aware of these abuses for years.
Their silence has reportedly been bought in exchange for high-end clothing manufactured by the company.
Maltese workers are also employed at the factory, but are said to be treated far better than their Asian colleagues.
In-Nazzjon says that the Asian workers are hustled out of the factory’s back door whenever the police or members of the Labour office visit the factory.
35 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-10-29/local-news/Bulebel-clothing-factory-raided-following-reports-that-Asian-workers-were-being-exploited-6736124625
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100808/business/bulebel-textile-manufacturer-wins-giorgio-armani-contract.321382
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20141029/local/director-of-chinese-factory-held-in-exploitation-human-trafficking-probe.541827
U issa naghtuhom ambaxxata sabiha go Pembroke bhala rigal mill-poplu u power station ukoll.
Ara veru mejtin bil-guh biex spiccajna nittalbu minghand dawn in-nies.
I am in no way justifying this, but its normal practice in China.
[Daphne – You may have failed to notice that we are not in China but in Malta. It is Maltese law that applies here, not Chinese law.]
Not only that: in China, the Bortex sub-contractor(?) would give the January salaries in July. And if there’s an electricity blackout, the Bortex sub-contractor’s Chinese employees are sent home without pay.
Unfortunately, it is “normal” practice wherever the Chinese get a foothold in a country. This is why it is crazy to do business with the Chinese and especially in China.
And what is worse, we have come to point that we almost cannot live without utilising items that have either been made in China or has internal components made in China e.g. mobile phones, cars, TVs, appliances etc.
So in a way, all of us are helping in this enslavement.
It is not just the law that applies, but the higher law of humanity and humanitarian. No amount of laws will be respected if the enforcement is still politically enslaved.
Free the police force from its political masters, give them a proper and functioning Police Board answerable to the public, and their dues in wage and the results will be forthcoming for a properly human policed society.
Oh I’m fully aware Daphne. It’s not me that this needs to be pointed out to, but all the high level government/police officials who allow this horrible behaviour here and in every other western country the chinese ‘invest’ in.
Till now
The same argument applies to everything that is labelled as ‘Made in China’.
Apart from the fact that quality standards do not apply, such as, for example, toxic paint that is used for toys that are then used by and put in the mouth by babies and toddlers, slavery and child labour are both rampant in China.
The list can go on, to medicines, etc, etc.
Did the Maltese workers not feel moved to publicise their colleagues’ plight? That sort of attitude is as shameful as any receipt of backhanders to look the other way.
[Daphne – It’s called dehumanisation of the other. They’re seen as different, inferior, Chinese, and so they can be treated differently…and very badly.]
I would have not imagined that a branded labelled gift would make anybody look the other way.
What unscrupulous people we are.
Some Chinese women get €13,000 a month and some others are slaves.
She’s almost paid as much as those factory girls…put together.
I am sure that Saviour Balzan will discuss this story on his next programme in the Reporter series. Ramona Frendo will pop up on several occasions to give us her valued opinion.
Oh yes. Remember Xarabank’s hatted Barbuto hounding that Ukrainian escort girl all the way to the departure gate?
‘Bortex, can’t be worth it.’
Issa tara ! And if he does it will all be blamed on the previous government .
When is Peppi going to have the Chinese slave workers on Xarabank to tell us their story and to make a collection for them?
Kif tista’ ma tidhaqx.
Kif tista’ ma tibkix.
There are more Chinese slaves working in Malta. Can NET TV do some undercover work at the numerous Chinese massage parlours sprouting all over the island?
These girls are being forced to work for a few euros a month, have their passports taken away, forced to undrego cosmetic surgery to look more beautiful and sometimes have to perform happy endings and sleep with clients.
Stop asking anyone else to do the job. As part of society you and I, we all have a social responsibility. Do it right here and now, name and shame with evidence, not just hearsay. This is the power of the media.
Did anyone ask how much is Kenneth Zammit Tabona paying his two male servants at his house? Is he paying them, at least, the minimum wage, or he is saving money to pay for his air-condition related electricity bills?
Does he pay their national insurance contributions, or are they employed bil-prekarjat?
There must have been grand corruption going on involving both main political parties on Malta, for this Chinese slave-labour sweatshop to operate for two decades with impunity on the island.
Looks like they were doing nastier jobs.
Sexy mini-skirt worn by a slave.
Is this the future of Enemalta? Then we can expect cheaper energy bills as well as serve as a hub for export to wherever.
What about Air Malta? With the Chinese we can even beat the low cost airlines.
Whilst at it we might as well have them build and run hotels so we will be able to bring even more tourists. So many ways consumers can benefit with the help of our Asian friends. The workers? Who cares?
I wonder how these Chinese workers entered and left Malta? Did they have visas?
If so, what type of visa? Were they here on tourist visas? Work visas? Who sponsored them? Did they pay taxes?
Were they smuggled in and out of the island?
How did this go on for almost 30 years unnoticed? How did the PN media “stumble” across this “story” now when they are conveniently out of government? Why did this become a “story” now?
If the Government really wants to eradicate such abuses there is only one way to go about it. Whoever employs a foreigner, should make this only through ETC, deposit the employee’s wages with the agency, and it is then the agency that issues the payment cheque to the foreign employee. That way no company will be free to decide to pay anything less than the minimum wage.
Manwel Mallia had better get to the bottom of this and inform the public:
http://maltarightnow.com/news/2014/10/30/l-isfruttament-ta-azjatici-fizzjal-tal-pulizija-li-allegatament-ixxahham/
Yes, and much of your Made in Italy items are from slave centres such as Prato. Believe it or not, Europe’s new sweatshop, Romania, actually brings over skilled labour from places such as the Philippines who are often cheated out of their money. There was actually a diplomatic incident too where hundreds of workers demanded that their embassy intervene. This is all so terrible.
I know that I am going to be told that I am missing the point on this one. True, the fact that slaves are being used in Europe is criminal as it is happening under our noses and within the territory where our laws should be enforced.
However, anyone who buy clothes from most high street shops should hang their heads in shame. Just because it was made in China or Bangladesh does not make you somehow any less guilty than the slave drivers. After all it is you that is funding this business.
Those who fly those luxury Middle-Eastern carriers should know that places like the UAE and Qatar are massive slave centres. Ever wondered why flights are so cheap?
Then there are the governments that are complicit in all of this – all for profit.
The EU and several pressure groups have been trying to establish a Made in EU label for years now but it is always the same countries that oppose it. The largest two being the UK and Germany, two countries that abuse their own national ‘Made in’ labels when 99% of the product carrying the label is actually made in workhouses in Asia.
My point being, know what you are buying — as far as that is possible — and stick to the brands you are fairly certain do not abuse their workers. For a number of years now I have been trying to buy products of durable quality rather than buying poor quality items in quantity.
Ultimately it is the people who bring about change – bottom up, not top down. Governments go as low as the people allow them to.
Because the “Made in the EU” label is open to all sorts of interpretations, albona.
Let’s say you buy a tablet that made in the EU. Really made in the EU. But that tablet contains thousands of electronic components. Does that mean each of them was made in the EU?
Or you buy a pair of shoes that’s made in the EU. Where was the leather made? And the thread?
It’s not as clear-cut as it seems.
Of course I agree with you. If it were up to me I’d build a tariff barrier that would slow Chinese imports to a trickle. But then liberals and capitalist CEOs alike would accuse me of being a Nazi who wants to starve the poor Chinese. The former because they believe free trade brings freedom (it doesn’t) and the latter because they’d have to knock a couple of digits off their massive paycheques.
Hi Baxx. You are quite right when you say that it is not clear cut, but then again nor are many rules on trade. The EU knows all to well how hard it is to negotiate on trading conditions. It is their bread and butter.
However, the main sticking point is not the complexity of evaluating how much of a product needs to have been made in the EU for it to be labelled as such. The main reason this is not being done is that a few countries outrightly abuse their respective ‘Made in’ labels to the obvious detriment of the others. It is a labelling Wild West. Here are some countries that prove that proper labelling can be done: Canada and Australia.
http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/03169.html
I quote:
‘The new Guidelines introduce a distinction between “Product of Canada” and “Made in Canada” claims. “Product of Canada” claims will be subject to a higher threshold of Canadian content (98%), while “Made in Canada” claims will remain subject to a 51% threshold of Canadian content but should be accompanied by a qualifying statement indicating that the product contains imported content. In both cases, the last substantial transformation of the product must have occurred in Canada’.
http://www.australianmade.com.au/why-buy-australian-made/about-the-logo/
Just for the record I agree with your last paragraph.
Why not further investigate to which outlet was this Chinese factory supplying stock under a different ‘label’?
Was this stuff for export? Did the administration turn a blind eye (which it apparently must have, and for a number of years too). Does this fall within the parameters of state aid, I wonder?