Articles

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

12 02, 2014

Naidu shared a truck with machinery, his hand paid the price

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:33:36+08:00February 12th, 2014|Articles, Stories|

By Joyce Wong 28 June 2013. Morning. Although he had reported to work, Ravada Gouru Naidu felt a headache coming on, and his supervisor allowed him to go back to the dormitory to rest. He could get a ride back on the company lorry, but since the cab was fully occupied by two other workers

9 02, 2014

Migrant workers at writers’ fortnight at United World College

GuestContributor2019-08-30T16:33:37+08:00February 9th, 2014|Articles, Happenings|

By Pat Meyer and Christine Pelly, photos by Low Yim Kuan Over the course of two days in January, twenty migrant workers from Bangladesh and India talked about their lives with just over 200 students from over 40 different countries. The students were 14- and 15-year-olds from an international school in Singapore, United World College