Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/424604
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 30 NOVEMBER 2014 14 News MALTATODAY saw conditions at Leisure Clothing first hand after paying a surprise visit to the factory over reports of an alleged protest by workers. But public relations officer Adrian Grech Cumbo explained that the "protest" was an impromptu cel- ebration by workers at the Chinese- owned firm welcoming their man- aging director, Bin Han, after being released from custody on bail on charges which include human traf- ficking for labour exploitation and failing to pay wages. Skeptical at this explanation, we chanced our arm and asked if we could have a look around the factory. A quick telephone consultation with senior management came back in the affirmative. "We have nothing to hide," was the reply. One Maltese shop steward showed us around the factory floor. "Wel- come to our sweatshop," she said, with a wry laugh. The slavery accusa- tion is no laughing matter in China, however. She claimed that this week a government delegation was sent from China to Malta to investigate closing the company. Grech Cumbo said he was sad- dened by the way the media covered the story, which he claims is a com- plete fabrication. "Journalists should a have a conscience... the media has done a great deal of harm to us lo- cally and internationally, even banks are refusing to serve us now." "Don't our jobs, our families count?" asked one Maltese worker. "How can you spread lies and then sleep at night?" The factory has been operating in Malta for the past 28 years and boasts an annual turnover of €5 mil- lion, employing 204 workers, accord- ing to company sources. Sources at the factory attribute the current troubles on the recent em- ployment of Vietnamese workers, who clashed with their Chinese col- leagues and superiors. Some hinted that the Vietnamese may have come to Malta solely to gain access to the EU. In some unsupervised questions to the few English-speaking workers, surprisingly not one had a bad word to say about their conditions. "The boss is good, the factory is good and the country is lovely," said one Chi- nese worker in very broken English. "We can go and smoke and have a coffee whenever we want." It would be foolish to exclude the possibility that workers may have been briefed to toe the company line if approached by the media, but the relaxed body language, the earnest tones and the generally pleasant at- mosphere would seem to indicate otherwise. Grech Cumbo claims that the PN wanted to make a sensational story because Leisure Clothing is a Chi- nese government-owned company and served to tarnish the association of the Labour government with the country. "I guarantee that if the PN had still been in government this would not have happened," he said. "In 2014, you would have to be crazy to try and run a factory with human trafficking in Malta. All the directors are employees. Bin Han has been blamed in China – they don't know he is facing nine years in prison here." The company, owned by the Chi- nese municipality of Chongqing, was introduced to Malta in the last years of the Labour administration in the 1980s but operated for 25 years un- der a Nationalist administration. The factory was initially part- owned by the MDC (today Malta Enterprise) on a 50/50 split with the Chinese government, but subse- quently the Chinese bought out the Maltese stake, on the condition that it have a minimum 4 to 1 Chinese- Maltese employee ratio. Asked about the allegations of withheld pay, Grech Cumbo said the workers "are on better conditions" than he is, because they are entitled to a life insurance policy and health insurance. "If they need treatment they go straight to a private hospi- tal." The accounts given by workers in- dicate that some of the company HR practices may not be in line with EU regulations, however. Accommoda- tion and food costs are reportedly deducted directly from the employ- ees' pay-cheques, a practice prohib- ited by law. Likewise leave entitle- ment, as explained to us, may not conform with local employment law as it appears employees are "entitled to an entire month's holiday every two years". These irregularities are being dealt with, according to Grech Cumbo, and the company is engaging a lo- cal HR professional to rectify any breaches. The negative publicity will Leisure's workers too happy anything wrong at Chinese Despite the less than decent living conditions witnessed by PN organ In-Nazzjon, the Chinese employees at Leisure Clothing display unquestionable loyalty to their employers, MATTHEW AGIUS finds