All items filed under News
Labour protection for the vulnerable: challenges and recommendations
A new study released by Transient Workers Count Too on 29 June 2017 reveals challenges faced by low-wage migrant workers with unpaid salaries and workplace injuries in obtaining compensation and recourse. The study, conducted by researchers at the Singapore Management University (“SMU”) and Transient Workers Count Too (“TWC2”), reveals that
Today newspaper highlights TWC2’s work fatigue study
Transient Workers' Count Too's Work Fatigue survey (see here for more about the study) was featured in Today newspaper on 6 May 2017. As often is the case in Singapore, the story leads with a headline ("Firms which don’t give workers enough rest taken to task: MOM") and a response
TWC2 participates in country review of Bangladesh at the United Nations in Geneva
Transient Workers Count Too was represented at a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, where the Bangladesh government's handling of migrant worker issues came under scrutiny. Specifically, Bangladesh's governance was reviewed against its commitments to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and their Families. Bangladesh
68% of construction workers work illegally long hours
Over two-thirds (68%) of foreign construction workers work so much overtime that their total monthly overtime hours would breach the legal maximum of 72 overtime hours a month. Of these, one in three (23%) worked twelve and a half hours or more in a single day -- which also violates the
The New Paper: Jobless and unpaid, foreign workers face daunting fate
The difficulties faced by foreign workers in Singapore seeking alternative jobs -- even when permitted to do so by the Ministry of Manpower -- were highlighted in a story in The New Paper 24 March 2017. The focus was on the men from HBB Engineering and related company C-Plus Engineering,
MOM makes about-turn after saying it can’t much help HBB workers
The Straits Times reporter met with the men on Thursday 2 March 2017. We thought the story would be out around the weekend, but the newspaper didn't have enough space. Parliament was sitting and debating the budget; space in the Home section was at a premium. The story was the
TWC2 and HOME submit joint shadow report on Bangladesh re Migrant Worker Convention
Transient Workers Count Too and the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME) submitted a joint shadow report to the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW) on Bangladesh. It was submitted via the UN Office of the High Commissioner for
Give.asia and the Straits Times snatch two men from the jaws of penury
Islam Rafiqul and Sujan Ahmed were downcast when they first approached TWC2 for help. But by the time they went back to Bangladesh, their faith in Singaporeans was fully restored, thanks to the Straits Times and Give.asia -- a crowdfunding platform for people in need. In Rafiqul's case, he had
Harri boss finally sent to jail for salary and housing abuses
In an encouraging development, the prosecutor in a recent case made the argument that using the threat of dismissal and repatriation to compel foreign workers to accept lower wages would constitute an offence. According to a news story in Today newspaper, Nallusamy Narayanan, the boss of a number of companies
One quarter of Labour Court salary orders unpaid
At the parliamentary sitting of 9 January 2017, Nominated Member of Parliament Kok Heng Leun posed a question to the Minister for Manpower Lim Swee Say (pictured above). As published in the Hansard, Labour Court Orders on Employee Salary Non-payment Mr Kok Heng Leun asked the Minister for Manpower (a) how