A Vietnamese woman this morning told a court how she was pressured into taking a job in Malta by a Vietnamese agency that told her they would keep the $3,500 in paid fees if she backed out.
Nguyen Thi Hien said that when she was asked to sign a contract to work with Leisure Clothing by an agency in Vietnam, she told them she had changed her mind since she did not like the conditions in the contract since they differed from the conditions she was originally told about and included a lower salary package.
Initially she was told she would earn about €600 a month but the contract, written in Chinese and Vietnamese, stated she would get €140 and then get paid a wage per product.
But the agency told her that would mean she would lose the $3,500 she had paid - which she had borrowed from her relatives - so she had no choice but to sign and come to Malta where she worked as a sewing machine operator at the factory.
She was testifying before Magistrate Carol Peralta in the compilation of evidence against Bin Han, 46, from San Ġwann and Jia Liu, 31, from Birżebbuġa, who are charged with human trafficking and the exploitation of Chinese and Vietnamese working for Leisure Clothing in Bulebel.
Mr Bin, who has Maltese nationality, is the company’s managing director while Mr Jia is Chinese but has been living in Malta for four years.
The witness said that when she came to Malta a couple picked her up from the airport.
They took her passport and took her to the company where she was going to stay in Hal Far.
She worked as a sewing machine operator and worked 12-hours shifts from 7am to 7.45pm on Mondays,Wednesdays and Thursdays. On Tuesdays and Saturdays she worked from 7am to 5.45pm and on Sundays from 8am to 6pm.
This was for the first two weeks, after which she extended her hours to work overtime until 9.30pm. She could not refuse to work overtime as she was told that a lot of product had to be completed. She was paid €1.70 for working overtime between 5.45pm and 9.30pm. This was not an hourly rate.
In the morning she had a 15-minute break, followed by a half an hour break for lunch and 20 minutes in the afternoon to have dinner.
She left the factory in October, after working there for one year and eight months during which time she sent €5,565 to her family.
She did not get money at the beginning as she was told that the first €2,000 could not be touched because this was insurance in case she stopped working.
The company still had €3,000 owed to her, she said. Every two months she received €150 cash in hand. She was given monthly payslips but, she said, the hours she worked did not match the ones listed and sometimes she only got €10 for every 14 hours she worked. She had a Sunday off fortnight, she said.
She said she complained with her boss about the money that was kept from her. The case was put off to January 7 when she will continue testifying.