Front Burner - The dark side of PPE: Allegations of exploitation, debt bondage

Episode Date: January 18, 2021

For sometimes as little as two dollars an hour, some migrant workers in Malaysia say they spend their days producing disposable gloves in sweatshop-like conditions in a factory — and spend their nights in dirty, overcrowded shared quarters. As global demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) surges, it would appear that so has the human cost for those making it overseas, an investigation by CBC's Marketplace has found. The investigation revealed allegations of exploitation, debt bondage and passport retention from across the disposable glove industry in Malaysia. Marketplace host Asha Tomlinson and producer Eric Szeto join Front Burner to explain why we should be asking where Canada’s PPE comes from.

In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. This is a CBC Podcast. The company doesn't care. If we complain, then the company will be forced to take care of us. For sometimes as little as $2 an hour, some migrant workers in Malaysia say they withstand a sweatshop-like factory during the day

and dirty, overcrowded shared quarters at night. Also, countries like Canada can buy disposable gloves. They treated me like a slave. We can say without doubt that the industry remains a hotbed of systemic forced labour and modern slavery. As global demand for personal protective equipment has surged, it would appear that so too has the human cost for making it overseas. An investigation by CBC's Marketplace has revealed allegations of exploitation,

debt, bondage, and passport retention from across the disposable glove industry in Malaysia. Producer Eric Sito and host Asha Tomlinson join me now to explain why we should be asking where Canada's PPE comes from and at what human cost. I'm Jamie Poisson, and this is FrontBurner. Hi, Asha and Eric. Thanks so much for making the time to come onto the podcast today. Hi, Jamie. Pleasure being here. Thanks for having us. So you've just released a really disturbing expose into the conditions at Malaysian PPE factories.

And before we get to the bigger picture here, I want to start with a man you're calling Hari. And Eric, tell me about the extraordinary personal risk that Hari took to help tell this story. What did he do? Yeah, so Hari, he's our main insider. And we should note that, you know, we've changed all the names of these employees that we've spoken to throughout the industry and throughout the story, just because of the risk they've taken to basically help us tell this story. But Hari, he's quite desperate to really show us what's going on in this factory. And he feels like this company just doesn't care about its workers, its safety, COVID protocols, its living conditions. He just

wants to prove it to us. So he's willing to take this huge risk to basically bring in a camera that we provided for him to document what's going on. And the risk involved here is significant. I mean, he could be fired and he could be deported back to his home country. And this isn't without precedent. I mean, just a few months ago, there was another report of another employee who'd been fired and deported and sent back to his home country for sharing, just sharing photos on social media. So, you know, just knowing how dangerous it could be, we took a lot of precautions to make sure he was, he was offered the proper support in case things actually did go sideways. And, you know, for Hari, he really viewed himself as someone that was speaking on behalf of his fellow workers. So he was willing to take that risk. And Asha, can you tell me about the kind of conditions that were captured

on Hari's hidden camera? Yeah, I mean, it was a really eye-opening experience to see a lot of these videos. And the hidden camera really does back up Hari's claims and many other top glove workers might I add that we spoke to talking about these unsanitary and unsafe conditions. There's video of workers doing their jobs without the proper safety equipment. A man gets hit by a forklift. He's not wearing a helmet. Another worker is doing some kind of electrical repairs. He has no safety goggles on. Sparks are flying. There's a video of an employee cleaning chemicals out of a pipes. Again, not a lot of safety gear on. And then those dorms, right? They're dirty, seemingly, from what we've seen

in these videos that they live in. They're cramped quarters, up to 30 sleeping in a room, that they live in. They're cramped quarters, up to 30 sleeping in a room, a dirty bathroom to share. They use that bathroom for everything from bathing to washing their dishes, washing vegetables. And then there are, you know, the worries and anxiety over COVID protocols because they're not enforced from what we're hearing inside a lot of these factories. When you check the videos, you can see that. Not much social distancing, right? Right. So you can understand why they're trying to blow the whistle, if you will,

because they're really concerned about these conditions and their health and well-being. Eric, can you tell me more about the company at the center of this Top Glove? Like, what else do we know about this business and its practices? So Top Glove itself, it's the biggest glove manufacturer in the world. They're worth $2 billion. They employ, I think, about 21,000 employees. And many of those workers, they really rely on migrant workers from the surrounding regions.

So we're talking people from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar. They come over here with the sense of this is a greater opportunity. But meanwhile, they're also taking home about $2 an hour, which is minimum wage in Malaysia, but still quite low by Western standards. And so, you know, as Asha pointed out, like we're seeing these videos and it's really quite a sharp contrast from the PR videos the company puts out. Right. And, you know, you mentioned that this is the world's biggest glove manufacturer. I imagine that this year, because of COVID-19, they're seeing an even greater demand. You know, what kind of profits are we talking about for a company like this?

The pandemic, let's just put it this way, has been good for business. And for Top Glove, you know, they said they made record profits last year since COVID and the pandemic, close to a billion dollars last year in profits. And Asha, I want to come back to the enforcement of those COVID-19 protocols now. So what you described here are, of course, prime conditions for a severe workplace coronavirus outbreak. And has Top Glove already had to deal with any COVID-19 cases? already had to deal with any COVID-19 cases. Late last year, the Malaysian government actually ordered Top Glove to shut down much of its production because of this huge COVID outbreak cluster, they call it. A COVID cluster crisis has now completely crippled Top Glove. The world's largest maker of rubber gloves is reporting a COVID-19 outbreak.

It ended up being the biggest in the country. Nearly 6,000 workers were infected. One worker died. Thousands had to be quarantined, including Hari. And we actually interviewed him while he was self-isolating. We are doing COVID tests because many people in the company are infected. Initially, he was housed with a roommate. But then when we talked to him, that roommate had tested positive for COVID and had to be hospitalized. So at the time, he was in this, you know, hotel, from what we understand, and waiting for his test.

Are you worried about getting sick? I'm worried. We found out that he tested negative, fortunately. But even after that whole ordeal, some workers still feel Top Glove was mishandling the outbreak and putting them at risk. We obtained video and it shows the workers sort of huddled together waiting for their COVID test. Very little physical distancing. And some of the workers can be seen taking a shower outside in 30 degree heat. And, you know, you just pan over with the video and you see piles upon piles of garbage. That is not, you know, the most sanitary conditions to be in when you're thinking about COVID on top of it all.

So it was just, you know, those are the kinds of things that Hari wanted to expose, he says, the truth with the hope people might see that, be shocked enough to do something about it. Okay. And in addition to Hari, Eric, I know you spoke to another Top Glove employee with some really shocking allegations as well. And you called him Ramat. I can't fall asleep out of fear of police. I'm in a lot of danger. And what did he tell you? Ramat was a particularly, you know, sad story

and a common one too that we found. But here's this guy named Ramit and he's from Bangladesh. He's desperate for work and he says, you know, there's very few opportunities back in his home country. So he gets word that there's some work in Malaysia and he's not told, though not sure about what it is, but it's a glove company. I was told in Bangladesh that the work had air conditioning. A very good job. There is no hardship. And for many of these workers,

they end up going to recruiting agencies back in their home country. And in this case, he pays about $6,000 Canadian dollars. So to put it in perspective, that's about three times kind of the average annual income of someone from Bangladesh. In order to get that money, his family sells parts of their land.

They take out loans from a loan shark. So his family's put a lot into this and a lot is riding on his success when he gets there. But when he gets there, this is where it kind of things take a little bit of a turn. I was cheated. I was assigned to work in very hot conditions doing maintenance, welding. He's working 12 hours a day, six days a week. And as from the videos you've seen, that we've all seen, the living quarters are cramped. There's 25 people to a room. He can't sleep. It's noisy. So he's fatigued on top of that. So what does he do? He goes and complains about the conditions to his boss. After I complained, he beat me a lot.

He hit me with the helmet two, three times every day. It actually escalates. He said, either you go back to Bangladesh or leave Top Glove. If you work at Top Glove, I will kill you. Your supervisor threatened to kill you? Yes. That's why I left that place. And now he's been an illegal immigrant for almost a year in Malaysia now. He doesn't want to go home, right, because he can't afford to go home.

And he can't show his face because his family has so much debt and he has no money to show for it. You're wiping tears from your eyes. How hard has this been for you? I have no job. I have no money for food. I am in great hardship. food. I am in great hardship. If I can't repay the money, my land or house, all of these could be taken away. It sounds like you're trapped. Yes, that is how I feel. How common is Rama's story? Can you put that into context for me?

So based on all the workers we've spoken to, this was kind of a very common kind of tale. Employees paying recruitment agencies, taking on debt just to work. And it's called debt bondage. Essentially, you know, you're working to pay off your loans, which can sometimes take years. So they're bonded to their debt, as one expert described it to us. And part of that is kind of the psychological aspect of worrying about your debts that weighs on you while you work, right? I would imagine that another way some people might describe this is indentured servitude. Absolutely. And according to the ILO, it's one of the main indicators of forced labor when you look at something like indentured servitude or debt bondage. Yeah, and our expert also says it's considered a modern day form of slavery with all

the indicators there that we've told them about with the excessive overtime, as Eric mentioned, the debt bondage, the way that they're living and the way that they're working. In modern slavery is more the psychological restraints on people, the debt bondage, the inability to be able to change work, to be able to resign, to be able to go home. If we talk about Bangladeshi workers, they maybe have to work more than two years even to break even. Asha, I want to go through all of these allegations that we've been talking about here and ask you about Top Glove's response. And maybe we could do them piece by piece.

And first, how has Top Glove responded to the hidden camera footage and allegations of mistreatment and exploitation in their manufacturing plants. Yeah, we asked Top Glove for an on-camera interview, and they declined that, but sent us a statement. And in it, first of all, with the allegations of abuse, they tell us they don't tolerate violence or harassment. They have a hotline to report abuse with whistleblower protection. On the topic of the excessive overtime and the conditions that these workers are living in, they say they're monitoring overtime hours, they are improving the living and working conditions of their employees, and they're beefing up COVID protocols, because we had to put those claims to them too. And then they say that they do recognize,

look, there's room for improvement, they admit. They have reopened and reinforced those health and safety measures. Bottom line is Topglove saying they're trying to make it better. And what about the second issue that you've been talking about, the issue of forced labour, Rahmat's story? Topglove tells us they had no part in the recruitment fees, particularly that workers had to pay to get the job and that they've started to reimburse their employees. It amounts to more than $40 million to more than 11,000 migrant workers, including Ramit. But there seems to be a caveat. We spoke to some former employees who say that the reimbursements only seem to apply to workers who were employed after January 2019, because when they inquired, they were told they didn't qualify.

So you still have a large swath of workers who are out a ton of money and still paying back those loans. of money and still paying back those loans. And Eric, these allegations against Top Glove, they're part of a much broader story here, right? This is not just about one company. And what drove you to investigate in Malaysia in the first place? So the team was really interested and we were interested in looking, you know, into where our PPE was coming from. We started hearing there were some issues going on in the Malaysian glove sector. So, you know, for where our PPE was coming from. We started hearing there were some issues going on in the Malaysian glove sector. So, you know, for some context, Malaysia is the world's biggest producer of gloves. So we started looking into companies, not just Top Glove, after hearing these allegations. And we ended up speaking to 23 workers from four other glove manufacturers who,

they all detailed, you know, various stories of alleged exploitation. And you touched upon it in Asha has too, debt bondage, deceptive recruitment practices, passport retention, excessive overtime, you know, abusive workplaces, just kind of deplorable or subpar living conditions. And these are all stories we kept on hearing. Living and food conditions are not good. We are afraid.

It feels like a prison. They beat us. They treat us like a slave. Eric, I want to talk to you about how Canada comes into this story. And what role do Canadian businesses play here? So that was kind of the next step in our story, right? And we wanted to kind of bring it home to Canada. What was Canada's role in this?

And where, if these gloves are coming in, where are they ending up? So what we did is we, using a series of resources, shipping records, sources, internal company documents, we found out that 31 companies had imported into Canada over the past two years, something like 255 million gloves. Now, I really want to note that this was actually only a partial kind of composite because you can only rely on U.S. shipping data for a lot of this because Canada doesn't make that stuff available. So there's probably a lot more that come into Canada during that time. Right. And you're just focusing on gloves too here, right?

We're just focusing on gloves too. And we're talking specifically from the five companies we looked at. And of the 31 companies that had imported into Canada, there was a range of different kind of companies that had imported it. We're talking food service, industrial, and of course, healthcare that had imported into the country. You know, part of what we want to also look into was government contracts, PPE contracts, especially in light of all the stuff that was happening with the pandemic. And through our research and through these import records, we had found that I think seven companies had either imported or were carrying these brands that we'd investigated from these Malaysian companies on their website

that had contracts with the federal government. So that was rather significant for us when we found that. And Asha, how do these Canadian businesses talk about purchasing from factories that allegedly operate in the way that we've been talking about with really poor conditions with, you know, allegations of indentured servitude? A really mixed bag of responses from Canadian glove suppliers. A few say they'll look into it. They'll investigate. One actually cut off business ties. Others say that, you know, they checked and their gloves are not from Top Glove.

But a Toronto supplier, Ronco, agreed to meet with us for an on-camera interview. So they stopped ordering from Top Glove months ago after they found out about the forced labour allegations. We have lots of pride and ethics on the way that we do business. And they say that they have a really careful vetting process. We have people from our organization that physically go to the facility. We validate that the information is right. We take pictures. It's coming here. But based on our research, they're currently working with a company called Kosan.

And we spoke to company called Kosan. And we spoke to workers at Kosan who had issues. They had the excessive overtime issue and the debt bondage that we hear so much about. There was no West Day for one year. When we revealed that to the CEO of this company, you haven't heard anything about it? No, I haven't heard, I haven't read, I haven't seen any information about that. Definitely it's not right to do business in that way. You seem a bit... Surprised, I'm surprised. I know this company for over 25 years.

Thank you for letting us know. He said that he's never heard any issues there around forced labour and that they would follow up with Kosan. When we heard back from Ronco, they said that they discussed things and they're satisfied with the explanation from this manufacturer and their future course of action. That company, Kosan, how have they responded to these claims, these allegations? It was quite an in-depth response to us via email.

And Kosan said that it focuses on ensuring fair, safe and healthy working conditions for all its workers. As well, they don't condone unethical recruitment practices. On top of that, they say that the claims from the workers we spoke to are not seen or portrayed as being reflective of the current situation. Not to mention, you know, they tell us they're working to reduce overtime for workers and any extra hours they say, well, they're done on a voluntary basis. And I would imagine that all of these companies have a similar response, that they're not responsible for what these recruitment agencies do. So Top Glove and the four other manufacturers that we spoke to

with regards to the recruitment fees, they all said basically they had no part in this. And actually, all the companies we spoke to, they're either reimbursing parts or all of their migrant workers' recruitment fees now. In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization. Empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. Hi, it's Ramit Sethi here. You may have seen my money show on Netflix.

I've been talking about money for 20 years. I've talked to millions of people, and I have some startling numbers to share with you. Did you know that of the people I speak to, 50% of them do not know their own household income. That's not a typo, 50%. That's because money is confusing. In my new book and podcast, Money for Couples, I help you and your partner create a financial vision together. To listen to this podcast, just search for Money for Couples. Eric, you mentioned before you found several contracts that the federal government had with some of these companies. And it's also my understanding, and please correct me if I'm wrong here, that the Canadian

government is supposed to be looking out for these kind of labor issues. And so where does the government fit into this here? That's a really good question and something we've been trying to figure out too, because you're right. The government does have a role in this. Following the ratification of the Kuzma deal last year, Canada had amended essentially our customs tariff act, basically prohibiting the import of forced labour goods. So as of July last year, we know that just like the US, we now are supposed to ban or detain the import of forced labour goods coming into Canada if there's such cause or evidence enough for it. So we actually started looking at tracking shipping records as of July 1st to basically last month. And we had found that from these companies,

millions of gloves had still been coming in to the country. And we don't expect the government to have banned or issued sanctions against all these companies because it takes, as they told us, a lot of work and research analysis. But if you use the US as an example, last July, the US customs, they actually ended up sanctioning Topglove,

some of their gloves from coming into the country, for reasonable evidence of forced labor after a bunch of allegations came up. But that did not stop Malaysia's Topglove from posting a record profit. The firm saw revenue rise 294 percent and first quarter net profit jumped 20-fold to around $585 million. In Canada, as you can imagine, with all what we found, there were still a lot of gloves coming in from Topglove, even after those US sanctions came into effect, because Canada had not applied the sanction, essentially. Has anyone in the Canadian government responded directly to the allegations that you've unearthed here? Yeah, definitely. We wanted some answers. We got passed around to a few different minister offices. They all declined a request for an on-camera interview. So what we did is we found out that the Minister of Procurement, Anita Anand, was part of a public health briefing,

you know, those daily COVID updates. And we got our question in during that news conference. We asked why Canada isn't doing more to stop these products linked to forced labor from getting into our country. And what's interesting is she said, look, I take this situation very seriously. Forced labor is a significant and unacceptable problem in global supply chains. And as soon as I was made aware of this issue, I have ordered my and asked my team to look into it. They're going to investigate. In fact, they've launched, from what we understand, a formal investigation into it. But in terms of a top solution here, if there is one, the best solution, our experts warn and caution against an outright ban of these products. It could have a negative impact on the workers.

They could potentially lose their jobs. We could see an overall decrease in PPE supply, which is what we need very much right now. But what Andy Hall in particular, who's a labor specialist, he says that France is doing it right. That's a country that has passed a law in which they set very, you know, clear standards to these manufacturers. They have to be met. They set up audits. And if the standards are not met, then that's when they will face civil liability and there are consequences. So they're saying that a more nuanced, a more softer approach is needed instead of just these rigid sanctions that could make things much worse. Right, right. You can see how complex and like how there can be so many unintended consequences here. I think the Canadian government is doing little to nothing

to contribute to an improvement of conditions in the PPE supply chain around the world. Canada is tainted and Canada is complicit in this abuse that's going on. Before we go today, Asha, I want to touch on another human part of the story here. You shared your investigation with doctors here in Canada. And how did they react when they learned of the conditions that some of their life-saving PPE was allegedly made under? You know, I really do think that this is when it hits home. It was for me at the time when I went to these doctors and revealed to them, this is what's happening. And, you know, did you know about it?

How did you feel about it? And their reactions were just so genuine. They were stunned, disappointed. I would have expected that there would have been more due diligence. We ended up tracing these products back to a hospital in Toronto, Humber River Hospital, and a doctor's practice in Georgetown, Ontario. So Dr. Sanjay Manosha is the head of ICU at Humber River Hospital. We were able to sort of spend, you know, a half hour or so inside the ICU to see the kind of work that they're doing.

And I mean, at such a critical time, they're near, at the time they were near capacity or at capacity. And he was just so shocked to hear that, that we found some brands linked to Top Glove in his hospital. It's important that we don't compromise other people just to provide the protective equipment that we need. It's something that needs to be looked into urgently. Dr. Nadia Alam, when we revealed our findings to her, literally it brought her to tears watching the undercover video. This is where workers in the glove industry live. I am devastated looking at this. It's obviously upsetting for you.

What is getting at you the most? That nobody's protecting them. Nobody's taking care of them. What they are doing makes such a profound difference in my life and my ability to take care of people. And it makes me mad that nobody's taking care of them. She says it's something that she really cares deeply about. to take care of people. And it makes me mad that nobody's taking care of them. She says it's something that she really cares deeply about. She's a doctor and anesthesiologist.

I guess to sum it up, Dr. Minosha and Dr. Alam were especially concerned just because they rely so heavily on PPE on a daily basis. In fact, Dr. Alam says she has to get creative with her PPE because there's a shortage and they need it to stay safe. So it's hard to just stop using these products. But again, they don't want to compromise the safety and well-being of these workers in Malaysia. It did not sit well with them. And both said that they're going to inquire, you know, and find out a little bit more about how these products are sourced and where they're coming from. It's not fair to sacrifice someone else, even if they're nameless, faceless, far away, just to keep ourselves safe. That's a price that's too high, not when we're committed to protecting lives right now.

Okay. Asha, Eric, thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right, so some other news before we go today. On Sunday, sources confirmed to CBC News that incoming U.S. President Joe Biden plans to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline permit on his very first day in office. The words rescind Keystone XL pipeline permit are part of a list of his executive actions for his initial day as president, reportedly printed on a briefing note. The president-elect has been signaling this move throughout his campaign.

That's all for today. I'm Jamie Poisson. Thanks so much for listening, and we'll talk to you tomorrow.