Articles

8 03, 2014

Through six years working here, Suman’s salary stayed much the same

alex2019-08-30T16:33:35+08:00March 8th, 2014|Articles, Stories|

Most times, when TWC2 volunteers interview workers, the conversation tends to focus on the immediate problem he or she faces, be it an injury needing proper medical attention, unpaid salaries, or a job scam. Suman Barman has an injury too, to his right thumb, but he was also a good case study of someone who

5 03, 2014

Owed $18,000 by boss, Arul told he should go home without collecting it

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:33:35+08:00March 5th, 2014|Articles, Stories|

By Jacintha Gopal Narayanasamy Arulmurugan (Arul) has in hand a formal order issued by a Labour Court ordering his employer to pay him $18,276.42 in owed salary. But he is facing the stark possibility that he’d soon be told by the Ministry of Manpower to buy his own ticket and go home to India without

2 03, 2014

Lawyer tells injured worker he can go home without waiting for WICA process to conclude

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:33:35+08:00March 2nd, 2014|Articles, Stories|

By Sonia Pillai Quite early in the interview, Palani Srinivasan, 43, mentions that his lawyer has told him to go home after his third operation. “Let me do collection for you,” was what (according to Srinivasan) his lawyer said. TWC2 vice-president Alex Au, who is sitting beside me, thinks it rather strange. "His WICA process

27 02, 2014

Scammed worker given only six months to recover his $4,500 loss

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:33:35+08:00February 27th, 2014|Articles, Stories|

By Fuxiong Torikul's hoped-for second job in Singapore never materialised. Instead, he's $4,500 in the red, having paid this total sum to an 'agent' and the boss. Getting it back is going to be difficult. He borrowed this amount from his father-in-law, who mortgaged his small plot of farmland to raise the money for him.

24 02, 2014

“Sign now,” says ‘workers control assistant’ to injured Arif

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:33:36+08:00February 24th, 2014|Articles, Stories|

By Joyce Wong Confronted by enforcers, Arif fled the dorm for his own safety. He left all his belongings behind. On 18 Jan 2014, fifteen days after a section of a finger was cut off by a cement mixer during work, Arif Hossin Chan Miah received a phone call from Zainuddin (not his real name),

21 02, 2014

Kowtham leaves Singapore poorer than when he arrived

alex2019-08-30T16:33:36+08:00February 21st, 2014|Articles, Stories|

Vallathan Kowthaman is going home end January 2014. He has no reason to smile as broadly as he does in the photo above, being about $6,000 poorer than when we arrived for his second job in March 2013. But he gives us a big smile because TWC2 has been his lifeline since he was injured,

18 02, 2014

Alam’s disappearing accident

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:33:36+08:00February 18th, 2014|Articles, Stories|

By Benjamin Wong The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) website states that for a worker to claim under the Work Injury Compensation Act (WICA), "the employee only needs to prove that he was injured in a work accident ..." (emphasis added by TWC2). In reality, many workers have difficulty even meeting this supposedly simple condition, because

15 02, 2014

Nazim’s employer didn’t report accident to ministry for ten months

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:33:36+08:00February 15th, 2014|Articles, Stories|

By Keith W Nazim Chowdhury shows me a three-page document he printed out. It's the formal accident report that his employer provided to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). The incident was described in the document thus: That he "... with a co-worker was tasked to remove a beam at the location. While handling the beam,

14 02, 2014

Injured workers inside and outside WICA: processes, problems and solutions

webmaster2019-08-30T16:33:36+08:00February 14th, 2014|Articles, Facts, research, analysis, News, Our Stand|

This downloadable document is a consolidation of the various recommendations that Transient Workers Count Too has made to the Ministry of Manpower in the last few months and years, with respect to injured workers. Injured worker issues are quite distinct from the salary non-payment issues. For the latter, the recommendations are more straightforward: detailed itemised

13 02, 2014

Woolim, part 2: case vanishes

alex2019-08-30T16:33:36+08:00February 13th, 2014|Articles, Stories|

Continued from Woolim, part 1: How low can a salary get? Early January 2014, Iqbal comes to the office with a group of his co-workers telling us that three of the fifteen men have accepted a settlement offer from the employer Woolim, wherein each of them would receive $2,000. This, says Iqbal, is a far