Interesting updates related to migrant worker issues
The Straits Times reported, 22 August 2013, that Singapore is looking to Sri Lanka and the Philippines as regular sources of construction workers. "The first 20 Sri Lankan construction workers who were trained at a Building and Construction Authority (BCA) approved training centre in Colombo will arrive in Singapore next Friday, bringing some relief to
The Online Citizen carried a lengthy report, 22 Nov 2013, on the case of about 100 Bangladeshi employees of Menton Technologies who are owed salaries and overtime by their employer. See http://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2013/11/a-raw-deal/. The report pointed out that the company had been in the news before over a similar issue -- not paying its workers. Even while
Amendments to the Employment Act were passed in Parliament on 12 November, but the changes did not include requiring employers to issue payslips to their workers, reported the Straits Times, 13 November 2013. The story on the previous day's parliamentary sitting reported that the Acting Minister for Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin explained to the House that
Bangladeshi cleaners in Ang Mo Kio town helped two elderly residents escape a fire in their second-floor flat, reported the Straits Times, 19 October 2013. The fire apparently made it impossible to leave by the front door, and the four occupants of the rental flat had only the kitchen window to safety. Two leapt out,
Straits Times, 14 October 2013, has a story on page 3 headlined "Some runaway workers fake their injuries, say bosses". The newspaper said that some employers contacted it last month, after it published a story on injured workers running away from dormitories. ST interviewed bosses of more than 30 firms in the marine and construction
"You see my IPA," says Shipon as he leaves through a whole sheath of papers. "It say here my salary one month $650." The 'IPA' is the In-principle approval for a work permit and contains the terms of employment that the employer declares to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) at the time of applying for
A tower crane accident left two construction workers dead, Monday 30 September 2013. Bangladeshi Ronju Ahmmed, 28, and an unnamed Thai national lost their lives when the crane crumpled down. It had been lifting an excavator when the accident happened. Concrete blocks making up its counterweight fell onto the worksite. The Straits Times reported (1
The Sunday Times did a full page feature (22 Sept 2013) on Cambodian maids joining the Singapore work force. The first few have arrived and an estimated 400 is expected to be here by the end of the 2013. The story indicated that they can expect a monthly salary of $450, and should be able
Transient Workers Count Too will be moving our office to another address during the week of 9 to 13 September, 2013. Our new address, located within the same building, is: 5001 Beach Road, #09-86 Golden Mile Complex Singapore 199588. Our previous landlord wanted the old unit back, so we had no choice but to look
A week-old baby girl was found abandoned on 8 August 2013. Police have now traced the mother to a foreign domestic worker, media reports said today, 15 August 2013. Chinese newspaper Wanbao reported: The maid hid her pregnancy from her employer, and later tried to hide her infant daughter in her employer's house, but was
