Speaking to FMT, the labour rights activist expressed his disappointment at a recent interview a Malaysian daily conducted with Top Glove founder and executive chairman Lim Wee Chai, in which Hall was depicted as being “funded by Western agents” and accused of making false allegations linked to ethical trade and labour practices.
Hall has been among the most vocal critics of Top Glove’s labour practices, with Lim saying in August that the activist was out to “sabotage” the world’s largest rubber glove manufacturer with claims of forced labour – despite US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) halting imports from two of Top Glove’s subsidiaries the month before on allegations that they were produced with forced labour.
While Hall and Lim seemingly mended fences last month when they announced that Hall would now be a “critical friend” of the company, Lim’s interview with The Star in early May has raised the temperature between the duo once again.
“My work on gloves, my focus on gloves has been entirely voluntary. I am not being funded to do this work,” said the 41-year-old.
“Some will claim that (George) Soros’ foundation (Open Society Foundations) or others which fund projects in Malaysia also fund me, but that is not true.
“If I was funded by the West, why would I agree to be a ‘critical friend’ of Top Glove and speak at their webinar to investors and the media (last month)? They should acknowledge that I am working hard to get the (CBP) sanction lifted.”
A consultant to Sime Darby Plantations, Tesco and Thai food giant Charoen Pokphand (CP Group) on migrant worker management and ethical migrant worker recruitment policies, Hall has also acted as an adviser on migrant worker issues to the Myanmar government as part of a European Union funded project while informally engaging with now-deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi for many years on such issues.
He is also an adviser to Impactt, the UK-based ethical trade consultancy which Top Glove hired to monitor the implementation of its “corrective action plans” and other remedial steps towards eradicating forced labour indicators in its operations.
On April 22, Impactt verified that Top Glove had resolved all 11 International Labour Organization (ILO) indicators of forced labour.
Despite that, CBP has made two seizures of Top Glove’s latex gloves at US ports worth RM5 million this month alone.
This came after the agency said in March that it had found “sufficient information” to believe the company uses forced labour in its production, a point which Hall said reeked of double standards.
“I’m actually very critical of the West. Recently, I have criticised CBP’s approach to Top Glove and their continued irrational trade sanctions against them, despite other Malaysian glove manufacturers having much worse labour practices,” he said.
“I am also against certain investors from the West which, at the end of the day, stand to make the most out of forced labour due to their continued investment in firms which employ such measures.
“My focus is not on any personal gain such as respect or praise from the (Top Glove) management. I’m doing this purely for the workers,” he said.
Apart from Lim alluding that Hall was “funded by Western agents”, the interview with The Star also mentioned that the CBP’s sanctions were “ridiculous”.
Following the latest seizure of Top Glove products at the Port of Kansas City in Missouri, Top Glove issued a statement yesterday saying it had resolved all 11 ILO indicators on forced labour.