Articles

14 05, 2014

Even with his good eye, Atikur can’t see what his ‘lawyer’ is doing

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:33:32+08:00May 14th, 2014|Articles, Stories|

By Peter Looker "Lawyer say you wait, you wait, you wait MC money" Atikur (not his real name) tells me, "but money no give". For four whole months now, Atikur, a worker from Bangladesh, has been waiting for "MC pay" accruing from the medical leave he was given for a serious and ongoing problem with

11 05, 2014

First advice from lawyer’s assistant: quit company dorm

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:33:32+08:00May 11th, 2014|Articles, Stories|

Several law firms specialising in work injury claims have offices in Little India By Nguyen Minh Quan To the question "How much do you have to pay your lawyer, how much is he going to charge you?" Gowri (not his real name) replies: "Charging, no talking." It is phrased in a way migrant workers

6 05, 2014

Salary problems two jobs in a row

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:33:32+08:00May 6th, 2014|Articles, Stories|

By Peter Looker Polash has no passport. He can't go home. "My boss, he say passport lost." His previous boss at Timberlux International Pte Ltd claimed not to have the passport. “Boss alibaba,” Polash alleges, using the shorthand term widely understood among migrant workers to mean 'untruthful'. What led up to this dispute has been written in

3 05, 2014

With a broken foot, Siva climbs three floors to sleep

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:33:32+08:00May 3rd, 2014|Articles, Stories|

By Eitan He's been hobbling around with that boot and a crutch for four months already. Every day he goes up and down three floors to get his free meals provided by Transient Workers Count Too, each step presenting a risk of tumbling down. Unable to put weight on his broken right foot, he largely

29 04, 2014

Inspectors coming, so crew moved elsewhere

alex2019-08-30T16:33:32+08:00April 29th, 2014|Articles, Stories|

Your writer asks Deepak (not his real name) how much overtime he worked, and gets a long-winded response that doesn't quite answer the question. Instead Deepak describes how he has to work two, three or four Sundays a month, sometimes at the main project site in Loyang, other times at a site in the Novena

25 04, 2014

Kamal of many chops

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:33:32+08:00April 25th, 2014|Articles, Stories|

By Elizabeth Zhou Cleanly shaven, he is dressed in a tight-fitting dark blue T-shirt that betrays a physique built by hard labour. A pair of trendy earphones is slung around his neck. It is my first time at Transient Workers Count Too's free meals point, known as The Cuff Road Project. I am unsure how

22 04, 2014

Engineering diploma-holder made to work as general labourer

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:33:32+08:00April 22nd, 2014|Articles, Stories|

By Hui Zhen Manikandan was instructed to meet “boss” one day, after six days' absence from work, and told he would be fined $180 ($30 a day) for not being on the job. “Boss say, 'Don’t give story',” he exclaimed. He was then gripped by his shirt and told he'd be sent back to India.

21 04, 2014

TWC2 calls for comprehensive bill on labour trafficking

webmaster2019-08-30T16:33:32+08:00April 21st, 2014|Articles, Facts, research, analysis, News, Our Stand|

TWC2 calls for practices of labour trafficking suffered by low wage migrant workers in all sectors of employment and foreign fishermen who dock in Singapore or on transit in the country to be addressed in the “Prevention of Human Trafficking Bill”. In a 17-page document submitted via email on 18 April 2014 to the address

19 04, 2014

Polash, Palus and their passports

alex2019-08-30T16:33:33+08:00April 19th, 2014|Articles, Stories|

It is normal procedure for the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to require employers to hand over foreign workers' passports when employees have made salary complaints. "Today, MOM officer call two times to him (the boss)," Polash tells TWC2. "MOM officer give him up to 2pm to bring passports." But it was well after 2pm before

16 04, 2014

After an injury, Sohag asked to sign “many paper”

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:33:33+08:00April 16th, 2014|Articles, Stories|

By Fuxiong Some employers try to take advantage of a foreign worker's weak English. They present stacks of papers for the worker to sign, papers that he can't understand. All sorts of pressures are then applied on the worker to make him sign them, but doing so may prejudice his rights. Fortunately, Sohag Md Lowsar