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 in him winning a Labour
Starting basic salaries for first-time workers from India and Bangladesh have remained more or less static since 2006, averaging slightly under Singapore dollars 600 per month. However, when adjusted for inflation, a downward trend is seen, and thus, in terms of Singapore purchasing power, average basic salaries have declined about 20% since 2006. The above
One of the major themes when analysing the current crisis of neoliberal capitalism is the way economic rent has run amuck, exacerbating the rich-poor divide. Economic rent is the profit extracted by a party who has access to a resource that others do not have and which others feel they need. That party does not
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 not appreciating that there is
Transient Workers Count Too was happily surprised when two unexpected donations came in in the days leading up to Christmas. Vidula (below, at left) brought a cheque for $10,000 -- money she raised by baking 200 cakes and selling them to her friends and contacts. It must have been a hectic few weeks for her.
Beginning in 2012, TWC2 treated foreign workers to a nice meal at its annual fund raising event. This year, for a change, we took them to a movie. So Lunch With Heart becomes @theMovie on Sunday 4 December 2016. The film: superhero blockbuster Dr Strange. The venue: The Projector, an independent cinema that TWC2 rented
Alex Au, Treasurer of TWC2, represented Transient Workers Count Too at a back-to-back series of meetings and conferences in Dhaka, Bangladesh, first week of December 2016. First in the series was the General Forum of Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA), a network of NGOs working on migration-related issues in the region. TWC2 is a full
The Straits Times reported, 1 December 2016, a coroner's finding that Kabir Mohammad Faysal, 29, had been electrocuted while using a water jet to clean the floor at a housing estate. The motor of the jet had not been grounded and he was barefoot as he did his job. The Straits Times reported: In his findings
Clockwise from left: Tan Si Hao, Darryl Mok, Marcus Ong, Huxley Goh and Nguyen Phuong Thao Transient Workers Count Too launched a custom-developed software application in October 2016. It is a complex matrix that is part-database of volunteers, members, donors and other contacts, part-database of volunteering events, and a whole lot of interactive
The Straits Times reported that Ng Boon Cheng, managing director of Lian Lee Wooden Case Maker Co (above, in ST pic), was fined $60,000 on 22 November 2016 for collecting kickbacks from his foreign workers. The story came out in the newspaper's 23 November online edition. The newspaper reported that: Ng pleaded guilty to collecting
