Family members often have different views on migrant workers, especially on the treatment of their own domestic workers. This short story by Anne Bergen-Aurand, first published in our members' newsletter of March-April 2010, recalls a difficulty faced by a caller to our helpline: TWC2's helpline frequently receives calls from “concerned others.” These are callers who
For immediate release 28 June 2010 Three Chinese workers died when a lorry in which they were being carried skidded and crashed onto its side on the morning of June 22nd. Some among the 14 survivors needed hospital treatment. The lorry crashed off the Pan-Island Expressway. TWC2 has argued strongly against transporting workers on the
Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) brought together a group of lawyers who worked on these proposals for amending the legislation and rules governing the agencies that handle the placement of many migrant workers with employers every year. The format reproduces the Act and Regulations, with the proposals inserted into the test wherever appropriate. Download the
The Employment Agencies Act is to be reviewed and amended this year (2010). A TWC2 legal group began work in 2009 on proposals for how the Act and Rules issued under it might be amended to ensure improved protection of the rights and wellbeing of the migrant workers who agencies place in employment. The proposals
In response to the article Employer's passport to trouble, published in Today, January 25, 2010, John Gee wrote to journalist Esther Ng: Dear Esther, I hope that you've had mostly positive reactions to your article on the retention of migrant workers' passports by agents and employers. It is an issue that TWC2 has raised a
Minister for Manpower Gan Kim Yong revealed in Parliament that two employment agencies were fined for refusing to return passports to migrant workers, reported Today on January 25, 2010. The ministry further reiterated to Mediacorp that "Employers should not retain their foreign workers' passports without their consent." However, it is more often employers, rather than
In 2008, there were over 180,000 domestic workers in Singapore. The largest numbers came from the Philippines and Indonesia. In this report, Transient Workers Count Too presents the results of a survey that focuses on two main stages of the processes that Indonesian women who decide to become domestic workers go through. They are stages
New measures to increase safety and provide shelter for workers transported in open-backed vehicles were announced in Parliament on August 18, 2009. They are to be phased in over three years. Here is a record of the statement made in Parliament on this matter: Mdm Halimah Yacob asked the Minister for Transport (a) whether he
Some people who felt strongly about the issue for safe transport for workers started Project Humane Transport in 2009 to raise support for change. The media reported on migrant workers and decent transport, especially when accidents took place. Quite a few people wrote to the press to put forward their views. A former National Serviceman
The '3 Ds' report (produced in September 2006) looked at the level of debt carried by domestic workers newly arrived in Singapore as a result of the placement costs they bear. It also reports on delays in payments and salary deductions. It proposes a cap on charges to domestic workers. The issues raised unfortunately remain
