Foreign Workers to Sue Sony and Panasonic Over Forced Labor
Foreign workers from Bangladesh are preparing to sue Sony and Panasonic in U.S. court over forced labor conditions at their former employer in Malaysia, Kawaguchi Manufacturing, a plastics supplier for the two companies.
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The workers are alleging “exploitation, mistreatment, and non-payment of wages,” migrant worker rights activist Andy Hall said in a blog post. Additionally, he alleges that the workers were forced to pay recruitment fees and had their passports taken away by the company.
Hall already has submitted a trade violation complaint with CBP.
The companies, which confirmed the allegations of forced labor at Kawaguchi in December (see 2412060061), offered to pay the workers $4,400 each, which would not be enough to cover the recruitment fees. "A number of workers are still in significant debt and at risk of debt bondage,” Hall said.
The lawyer representing the workers, Terrence Collingsworth of International Rights Advocates, said that he is “frankly disgusted” by the companies’ lack of responsiveness, but that he is sending a third letter this week to try to settle the matter out of court, not having received replies to his first two letters. “There’s no question that we will file a case [in court] if they don’t wish to be more constructive,” Collingsworth said.
Collingsworth also is appealing a decision by the Court of International Trade that his organization doesn't have standing to challenge CBP's inaction in responding to a petition to ban cocoa from Cote d'Ivoire (see 2408160009 and 2408080049).
“The companies were hoping to just pay the recruitment fees. But they worked under forced labor conditions, they were trafficked and are owed compensation,” Collingsworth said. “My interest is getting the workers a reasonable amount of money in addition to the [$4,400] so they can move on.”