Stories about workers’ experiences, the many ways our volunteers help, insights and facts that TWC2 have unearthed

15 08, 2012

The scenic route to solving salary disputes

2019-08-30T16:35:26+08:00August 15th, 2012|Articles, Stories|

A simple salary claim became a 14-month saga, eating up a good chunk of state resources. It was completely unnecessary, since the solutions that would prevent such disputes from arising in the first place are almost no-brainers. Yet, for reasons unknown, the Ministry of Manpower has not adopted the suggested solutions proposed by Transient Workers

14 08, 2012

Boomi’s African odyssey, part 5

2019-08-30T16:35:26+08:00August 14th, 2012|Articles, Stories, Uncategorized|

Continued from part 4. This is the fifth of six parts: The Angolan passport ready, Boomi, Rajeesh, and Emil made the long trip by car from Cotonou, Benin, through Togo all the way to Accra, Ghana where Boomi would fly out of Kotoka International Airport. Still in charge of all the arrangements, Emil's smooth talk

12 08, 2012

Worse off for working? Kickbacks, intermediary fees and migrant construction workers in Singapore

2019-08-30T16:35:59+08:00August 12th, 2012|Articles, Facts, research, analysis, Uncategorized|

By John Gee A majority of Bangladeshi workers in the construction industry may be made to pay their employers for the renewal of their contracts. Typically, they need to be employed in Singapore for at least 17 ½ months if they are to earn enough to pay off their placement costs. For most of the

10 08, 2012

Boss says to injured worker: “You must work, if not, go back Bangladesh”

2019-08-30T16:35:59+08:00August 10th, 2012|Articles, Stories, Uncategorized|

By Xinlin Transient Workers Count Too sees many cases where an employer might consider early repatriation of a worker to be the best solution to avoid further costs, especially work injury compensation. This is particularly if the employer has failed to take up insurance, even though under Section 23 of the Work Injury Compensation Act

9 08, 2012

Is MOM outsourcing its work?

2019-08-30T16:35:59+08:00August 9th, 2012|Articles, Facts, research, analysis, Stories|

The most common question that people ask about the injured men who eat at The Cuff Road Project (TCRP) is whether they have lawyers to help with their case. Well, yes and no. Yes, they have lawyers, but no, the lawyers don’t necessarily help. TWC2’s Cuff Road Project feeds South Asian migrants who are not

5 08, 2012

Worker may need operation for back injury, employer wants to send him home

2019-08-30T16:35:59+08:00August 5th, 2012|Articles, Stories, Uncategorized|

By Arjun Naidu One June evening, at a coffee shop along Rangoon Road, construction worker Md Ebrahim Miah faced a stark choice. “Boss very angry,” he says. “Say, ‘now I give you ten minutes, you go back [to Bangladesh] or no?’” Though he didn't know it at the time, his boss had already cancelled his

5 08, 2012

Walking the talk in Little India

2019-08-30T16:35:59+08:00August 5th, 2012|Articles, Happenings, Uncategorized|

It is that time of the year when a new crop of students start their university education. This week past Transient Workers Count Too have been kept busy reaching out to freshmen at the National University of Singapore (NUS). On the morning of Wednesday, 1 August 2012, TWC2 president Russell Heng delivered a talk “Foreign

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