All items filed under News
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
9,000 salary complaints, 16,000 injured workers in 2016
In 2016, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) received about 9,000 complaints from workers over salaries. These complaints related to about 4,500 employers. This was reported in the Straits Times, 6 Feb 2017, in a story reporting on questions and answers from a parliamentary sitting. Manpower minister Lim Swee Say also
For members of TWC2: Email verification exercise 2017
TWC2 is proud that that we have many long-standing members. But the drawback is that your email addresses may have changed over time. We need to do a verification exercise, and we seek your cooperation to ensure that our membership register is up-to-date. This is particularly as, with the help
Employers should purchase more insurance, salutary lesson shows
We'll call the worker 'Byoghu' in this story. He had worked before in Singapore and quite successfully. But when he returned for a second job, he soon fell ill. In the first two weeks on the job, he had a fever and was given medical leave. The employer decided to
Straits Times: Gap in law to protect workers
Journalist Toh Yong Chuan had a short op-ed on page 2 of the Straits Times 24 Jan 2017 following his two reports of workers who could not collect on their Labour Court awards. See these stories on Islam Rafiqul and Sujan Ahmed. He argued that it was important to plug
Worker unable to collect injury compensation; MOM says he must be “realistic”
Just like Islam Rafiqul's case which was told in the Straits Times last week, Sujan Ahmed too is unable to collect the Labour Court award he has been given. Sujan's employer is simply refusing to pay up and the Ministry of Manpower suggested that he should apply to the State Courts
Straits Times: Labour Court can’t make employer pay
Islam Rafiqul's case was highlighted in a full-page story in the Straits Times 19 January 2017. Headlined "Labour Court can't make employer pay", it described this Bangladeshi worker's plight, having been owed over $7,363 in unpaid wages. His case went through the usual channels at the Ministry of Manpower, resulting
Foreign cleaners’ pay should match local cleaners’
Following news that accelerated pay increases for cleaner will be implemented, but only for local employees, Transient Workers Count Too wrote to the Straits Times. On 16 December 2016, our letter was published. Consider raising pay of foreign cleaners, too Foreign visitors often comment on how clean Singapore is, perhaps