BlackRock raps Top Glove board over Covid-19 safety lapses
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Top Glove workers leaving the company's factory in Klang. More than 5,000 of the Malaysian firm's foreign workers were infected with Covid-19 and one died. Workers have spoken up about their poor working and living conditions, such as crowded dormitories.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
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KUALA LUMPUR • The board of directors of Malaysian company Top Glove - the world's largest maker of medical-grade gloves - has failed egregiously in protecting its workers from Covid-19, US investor BlackRock said, calling for its removal.
The comments from the world's biggest asset manager come after Top Glove saw an extensive coronavirus outbreak among its workers late last year. More than 5,000 foreign workers were infected and one died, in what became Malaysia's biggest cluster.
Reuters reported last month that Top Glove fired a whistle-blower who had raised concerns about the firm's lack of Covid-19 mitigation efforts. Workers told Reuters that they lived in crowded dormitories.
BlackRock cited workers' accounts of working and living conditions, the firing of the whistle-blower and the virus cluster at Top Glove in its criticism of the board.
It also voted against re-electing six board members at Top Glove's annual general meeting on Wednesday.
"We view the board's ineffectiveness in Covid-19 mitigation, and inadequate oversight of worker health and safety issues as especially egregious, with potentially serious implications for its reputation as a supplier of such equipment to hospitals around the world," BlackRock said in a statement late on Wednesday.
Top Glove did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company has acknowledged that much more needs to be done to raise the standard of employee welfare and has promised to quickly rectify shortcomings.
A BlackRock unit, BlackRock Institutional Trust, is the 10th-biggest shareholder in Top Glove, with 1.07 per cent of its shares. The glove maker is dual-listed in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
BlackRock said it intended to hold other incumbent directors accountable by voting against their re-election at future meetings.
An influential Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, managed by Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), also voted against the board's re-election, according to voting records on NBIM's website. The fund, which owns 0.84 per cent of Top Glove shares, declined to comment on worker safety concerns.
The board members were re-elected despite the objections.
BlackRock's comments are the first public criticism of Top Glove from an investor since the virus outbreak among workers.
Top Glove posted record profits last year as demand for its products soared due to the coronavirus pandemic. Its share price more than tripled last year.
Last July, the United States banned two units of Top Glove over forced labour allegations. The Malaysian authorities plan to charge the company over poor worker accommodation.
BlackRock said the living conditions described by the workers were in "stark contrast" to what the board had conveyed to shareholders.
Top Glove's factories, some of which were closed due to the outbreak, reopened last month.
REUTERS
