Foreign workers’ lives of waiting
Two Bangladeshi workers tell us about waiting. Waiting to get overtime wages, waiting to get claims settled through MOM. But waiting is not painless.
27
08, 2019
22
08, 2019
How do workers raise money to pay agents?
TWC2 volunteer Stefan dives deep into issues of loans, pawning, interest rates and repayment installments. Compared to the meagre salaries foreign workers in low-skill jobs earn, the numbers are disturbing.
20
08, 2019
Maid to Last? Foreign domestic workers’ access to weekly rest days
In this newly-released study, TWC2 found that domestic workers had to "prove" themselves and learn to negotiate for their days off. Generally, it takes over four years before they can get two rest days per month.
5
08, 2019
14,000 foreign spouses in Singapore work
At a Parliamentary sitting on 15 January 2019, Nominated Members of Parliament Anthea Ong and Mohamed Irshad asked the Minister for Social and Family Development questions regarding foreign spouses of citizens and permanent residents. The Minister of State for Social and Family Development, Sam Tan, answered for the minister. In the latter part of the
30
07, 2019
The outlaw ocean – human trafficking and other crimes, part 3
Ian Urbina, an investigative reporter for the New York Times, spent years researching the abuses in Southeast Asia's fishing industry. In the above video, he visits a detention centre in Indonesia where he meets with (mostly Vietnamese) men who had been detained when their fishing vessels were arrested in Indonesian
30
07, 2019
The outlaw ocean – human trafficking and other crimes, part 2
The video in this post has investigative journalist Ian Urbina trying to track down alleged murderers and human traffickers in the Thai fishing industry.
19
07, 2019
The outlaw ocean – human trafficking and other crimes, part 1
Here's a heads-up to a forthcoming book The Outlaw Ocean by Ian Urbina, following his years-long investigation of labour abuses and human trafficking in the fishing industry.
25
06, 2019
How some employers cheat both the government and workers
In June a year ago, we wrote about the Everglory scam. It's not confined to Everglory Construction Pte Ltd but is in fact quite a common scam. Since the first cases emerged in early 2018, Transient Workers Count Too has seen a new case every few days. The earlier article described how the
27
05, 2019
More of here, less of there: Increase in repeat workers and fat profits for the underground job broker in Singapore
In this research study, TWC2 found that about 80% of South Asian workers were "repeat workers", a huge change from a few years ago. We also found that about half of them used a Singapore-based job broker to find a job. Typically, these are foreign workers themselves, not licensed employment agents. It's illicit but profitable.
10
05, 2019
Transfer was a sham, settlement agreement was dubious, only the paddyfield was real
By Yasha S based on an interview in January 2019 For 47-year old labourer Motaleb Abdul, seeking justice for what he is owed seems like a never-ending game of disappointment. Despite having a salary settlement agreement drawn by Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM), he has yet to be paid by his Singaporean boss