Nepalese workers from the Top Glove factory in Malaysia are better off today thanks to UnionAID and our project partner in Nepal, Yubraj Khadka. After an international campaign forced Top Glove (whose profits rose 1646% due to Covid) to offer compensation to its former migrant workers for exorbitant and illegal recruitment fees, UnionAID partnered with Yubraj, a former employee himself, to assist eligible former Top Glove workers to lodge their claims.
Over 6 months Yubraj helped 71 workers submit their claims and his has resulted in over $NZ50,000 being paid out to thirty people to date, with others likely to receive payment soon.
Some of the workers have told their stories of what receiving their recruitment payment back has meant to them. This includes now being able to pay school fees for their children, repaying loans, or paying for medical treatment for a family member, and a woman was able to open a small beauty parlour with her compensation – just another example of the tangible benefits brought about by this small project.
