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4 November, 2025Serious violations of trade union rights are reported at Lumileds Malaysia, who produce for Apple. According to workers and union representatives, there has been widespread intimidation and interference in the run-up to a union certification election scheduled for 4–7 November.
According to reports from the Electronic Industry Employees Union Northern Region Peninsular Malaysia (EIEUNR), company management is engaging in a range of anti-union practices. These include manipulating voter eligibility by excluding around 200 known union supporters from the voter list, threatening migrant workers with deportation, non-renewal of work permits, and eviction from company housing if they supported the union, and holding captive audience meetings where wage increases and benefits were reportedly conditioned on rejecting the union. During these meetings, workers’ phones were confiscated to prevent documentation.
Additional allegations include harassment and slander of union supporters, the spreading of disinformation about union leaders, surveillance and disciplinary threats, as well as bribes and coercion urging workers to vote “NO” and providing incentives to reject union membership. Long-serving employees were reportedly excluded from the voter list, effectively denying them the right to participate.
IndustriALL Global Union has written to Lumileds CEO Steve Barlow, expressing deep concern over the reported conduct.
“These actions amount to blatant violations of workers’ rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, guaranteed under Malaysian law and ILO Convention 98, ratified by Malaysia,”
said IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie.
IndustriALL has called on Lumileds to take immediate corrective measures, including ending all anti-union activities to ensure a fair and intimidation-free election, respecting workers’ rights to organise and join a union of their choice, protecting union members and leaders from retaliation, and engaging in good-faith dialogue with EIEUNR as the legitimate representative of Lumileds Malaysia workers.
“These union-busting actions contradict Lumileds’ public commitments to ethical conduct, sustainability, and human rights,”
Høie added.
“As a supplier to major global brands, including Apple, Lumileds has a responsibility to uphold international labour standards throughout its operations.”
IndustriALL is also urging Apple, a major client of Lumileds, to address the violations of workers' rights to freedom of association at Lumileds Malaysia.