In the last decade factory owners, in response to brand-name Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) parameters, have joined associations that verify (through a monitoring and audit system) that management does not exploit labour. There have been no reports of violations of codes of conduct concerning Malaysian workers but for foreign workers on contract there are certain areas that have been reported. These areas, including trade union membership, the withholding of workers' passports and unsuitable accommodation, generally escape notice because auditors who monitor factory compliance do not question the terms of contracts as long as they comply with national labour standards. This paper is based on research with foreign workers in Malaysia and argues that despite the success of the anti-sweatshop movement in a global context, the neo-liberal state in Malaysia continues to place certain restrictions on transnational labour migrants which breach garment industry codes of conduct. Available evidence does not support the assumption that CSR practices provide sufficient protection for both citizen and foreign workers on contract in the garment industry.
The post-colonial state in Malaysia has been driven primarily by the logic of pacification and accumulation, as reflected in its sustained reliance on export-oriented industrialisation and high levels of political control. These fundamental characteristics of the Malaysian state are reproduced in the realm of employment relations, which are dominated by managerial unilateralism as a consequence of a long history of union repression. Malaysia's adherence to a minimalist version of the tripartite framework promoted by the International Labour Organization and its long-standing status as a middle-income country have meant the kinds of international pressure and support for change evident in some other Southeast Asian countries is largely absent. Internally, pressure for change has been minimal because of the heavy hand of the state, which has made it clear that any challenge will be dealt with severely both at the individual and the organisational level. The situation has been exacerbated by the fact that many traditionally unionised export-oriented industries have shifted to contract workers and regulatory adjustments have allowed for enhanced employment flexibility.
Women workers employed in the export-oriented manufacturing sector in Malaysia have traditionally had poor access to representation by trade unions for two reasons. Firstly, government rules and regulations have prevented sectoral trade unions from representing large sections of the workforce, and secondly, unions themselves have not considered women their primary constituency. As a result, non-governmental organisations (NGO), rather than trade unions, have played an important role in educating women workers about their rights since the 1980s. In the garment industry in recent years, NGO activism has precipitated a change in the trade unions' focus towards women workers in general, and towards female overseas migrant workers in particular. Where once unions viewed migrant workers as undermining the wages and conditions of Malaysian workers, they now assert their right to equality in the workplace. This paper explores the context in which NGOs became involved in union-like activities and unions' responses to that involvement.
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