Articles

18 03, 2018

Mohan feels more secure having a lawyer for his injury claim

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:31:06+08:00March 18th, 2018|Articles, Stories|

By Liang Lei, based on an interview in December 2017 What is the role of a lawyer? While we struggle to form an encompassing definition of the profession, our foreign workers seem to have a fixed perception of them as their all-knowing protector. At TWC2, the vast majority of injured workers would already have engaged

16 03, 2018

TWC2 submits proposals for improving Singapore’s Employment Act

webmaster2019-08-30T16:31:06+08:00March 16th, 2018|Articles, Facts, research, analysis, News, Our Stand|

The Singapore government invited submissions for proposed amendments to the Employment Act. TWC2 made a proposal centred on five areas which will benefit the most number of workers. As our submission makes clear, TWC2’s proposed amendments are envisioned to support all employees in Singapore. Even if some of our ideas are of particular importance to

14 03, 2018

Eager to go home after 15 jobless months

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:31:06+08:00March 14th, 2018|Articles, Stories|

By Aaron Chua, based on an interview in December 2017 Just look at this!”, Alex exclaims, holding up one of the meal cards that are issued by TWC2 to workers in need. The surprise: The date of injury — 20 September 2016. It has been 15 months since. The card belongs to Hossain Muhammad Arif,

10 03, 2018

Grappling with trafficking is like nailing jelly to a wall

webmaster2019-08-30T16:31:06+08:00March 10th, 2018|Articles, Facts, research, analysis, Happenings|

Former president of TWC2, John Gee, was a panellist at a human trafficking forum at the National University of Singapore's Stephen Riady Global Centre on Saturday 27 January 2018. In his talk, titled 'Nailing jelly to the wall', he drew attention to how terms and labels can be misconstrued, and responses can vary greatly. For

7 03, 2018

Crash! Bang! Boss hears windfall from the heavens

alex2019-08-30T16:31:07+08:00March 7th, 2018|Articles, Stories|

Martin* was on his second day at his new job. He was employed as a construction worker, but he had let his boss know that he held a Singapore driving licence. His boss asked him to drive a lorry. Martin hit another car; the lorry suffered scratches. Thankfully, no one was injured. Some days later,

3 03, 2018

Shariful’s case shows how injury leads to poorer housing

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:31:07+08:00March 3rd, 2018|Articles, Stories|

By Tristan Powell-Odden, based on an interview in December 2017 Despite being in pain from an injury, Shariful had to look for new accommodation and worry about how to pay for it. Housing issues shouldn't have to complicate an injured worker's life, but they do. Shariful's job was to blast paint from steel surfaces of

25 02, 2018

A look back at job mobility policies 2011 – 2017

alex2019-08-30T16:31:07+08:00February 25th, 2018|Articles, Facts, research, analysis, News, Our Stand|

There has been a gradual liberalisation over the last few years allowing construction workers to transfer to new jobs. This paper takes stock of evolving government policy in this area. Transient Workers Count Too has argued for a long time that retaining workers with experience in Singapore will be good for our much-hoped-for improvement in productivity.

21 02, 2018

Ratan waited three years before filing a salary complaint – why so long?

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:31:07+08:00February 21st, 2018|Articles, Stories|

By Nicholas Lee, based on an interview in October 2017 The promise of a higher salary and a better life -- this is the main reason why most foreign workers leave their families and the familiarity of their home come to Singapore to work. But what if after taking on debts to pay agent fees

14 02, 2018

By law, boss has to pay MC wages, so why is Hasan still asking for them?

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:31:07+08:00February 14th, 2018|Articles, Stories|

By Tristan Powell-Odden, based on an interview in December 2017 Hasan Tamim has been seven months without work as a result of an accident. Not only was he not fully paid his salary before the incident, he has not received proper financial support from his employer since -- despite the law requiring the employer to

10 02, 2018

Victims of unpaid salaries have hard time getting transfer jobs

webmaster2019-08-30T16:31:07+08:00February 10th, 2018|Articles, Facts, research, analysis, News, Our Stand|

One of the more encouraging things that Transient Workers Count Too has noticed in the past few years is that now, nearly all victims of unpaid salary are given a chance by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to look for new jobs in Singapore without first having to return home. The significance of the above may be