Runaway workers in Japan call home to complain about low wages

(Baonghean.vn) - The family of worker Vo Thi Thanh Mai who recently escaped to Japan said that since August, the family has not received any information from their daughter. Before that, Mai called home many times and complained that the salary was too low.

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On the afternoon of November 2, reporters went to the permanent residence registration address of worker Vo Thi Thanh Mai in My Thuong hamlet, Hung Loc commune, Vinh city.

Ms. Hoang Thi Dung - Mai's biological mother said: "1 year ago, Mai looked up information online and then contacted a labor export company in Hanoi, discussed it with her parents and decided to go to Japan. Mai asked her mother to borrow money from the bank to complete the procedures. Initially, the company said the cost would be 5,500 USD, but then it "increased" to nearly 7,000 USD. The contract period is 3 years," said Ms. Dung.

According to Ms. Dung, before leaving, the company promised that the monthly salary would be equivalent to 20 - 25 million VND/month. However, in reality, Mai said that was not the case.

“I left in August 2016 but have only been able to send home a few dozen million VND. Many times I called home, Mai said the work was hard, growing vegetables in a greenhouse for a family, not a factory or company. There were 3 Vietnamese people who had worked there before, and had a closer relationship with the owner, but Mai joined later, and the owner did not respect her very much. In addition, the income was not as promised before leaving. There were months when there was no salary, and there were months when the salary was only 2-3 million VND, how could we survive with such an income!” - Vo Thi Thanh Mai’s mother explained.

There are many Vietnamese workers working in the agricultural sector in Japan. Illustration photo: Internet

It is known that from August 2017 until now, the family has not received any phone calls from Mai, nor has there been any way to contact her. In mid-August, the family received a phone call from the company that sent Mai to Japan to work, informing that Mai had escaped from the factory and was residing illegally. Immediately, the family arranged work to go to Hanoi to meet the company representative.

“At the meeting, the company mentioned the guarantee contract before leaving, but the family's point of view is that they do not owe the company anything. The cost of nearly 7,000 USD for Mai to leave has been fully paid, and as for the guarantee contract, at that time the company said it was signed to maintain trust…” - Mai's mother said.

Currently, the family of worker Vo Thi Thanh Mai is very worried and insecure. At the same time, the family also believes that the company that sent Mai to work abroad has "cheated" and not fulfilled its initial commitment about income. "Now, we can only wait. The bank loan has not been paid off yet, my grandparents' income only depends on farming, raising livestock, and they are raising Mai's young child..." - Ms. Dung said.

Previously, according to information from the Department of Employment, Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, trainee Vo Thi Thanh Mai (born in 1986), permanent residence in My Thuong hamlet, Hung Loc commune, Vinh city, was sent by Hanoi Technology Training and Development Joint Stock Company in coordination with Kyusyu Factory Kyodo Kumiai Union (Japan) to intern at Takanami Yoshiaki factory (Japan) for a period of 3 years, in the field of agricultural internship on August 19, 2016.

Before leaving, to ensure that the intern did not violate the contract, Mr. Vo Van Chuong and Ms. Hoang Thi Dung - the intern's parents, used the land use rights with an area of ​​150m²to guarantee all obligations of the trainee to the company until returning to Vietnam to terminate the contract.

However, on August 12, 2017, intern Vo Thi Thanh Mai escaped from the factory and resided illegally.

Hanoi Technology Training and Development Joint Stock Company sent a dispatch to the People's Committee of Nghe An province, in which it informed about the absconding behavior of intern Vo Thi Thanh Mai and stated: "The behavior of intern Vo Thi Thanh Mai violated Clause 2, Article 35 of Decree No. 95/2013/ND-CP regulating administrative sanctions in the field of labor, social insurance and sending Vietnamese workers to work abroad under contracts."

The enterprise requested the People's Committee of Nghe An province, based on the authority prescribed in Decree 95, to issue a Decision on administrative sanctions against intern Vo Thi Thanh Mai. At the same time, based on the guarantee contract, the intern's parents were required to fulfill the obligation to pay the fine in lieu of their child's violation.

Phuoc Anh