News and opinions in the public domain and TWC2’s response
An article in the Straits Times, 9 November 2013, on workers' injuries and medical leave prompted a small flurry of letters to the newspaper's Forum page. The initial article, headlined 'Hospitals give too much sick leave for injuries: Bosses' reported that Bosses are crying foul that foreign workers are getting too much medical leave from
The scab on one of Das Thiru's knees about three weeks after the accident Continued from PART 'The employers believe these workers exaggerate their injuries to fool doctors' – so reported the Straits Times on 9 November 2013 (‘Hospitals give too much sick leave for injuries: Bosses’ by Amelia Tan) Is this true?
Transient Workers Count Too's letter in response to an article about foreign workers working illegally (Straits Times, Monday, 25 Nov 2013, summarised here) was published in the newspaper's letters section on Friday 29 November. This is the text of the letter: Plug gaps in system to reduce illegal work When injured or unpaid foreign workers
The lead story in the Home Section of the Straits Times last Monday looked into foreign workers working illegally. ('Workers find illegal jobs through informal network', 25 Nov 2013). It was accompanied by a photograph that Transient Workers Count Too considers somewhat irresponsible. Only the lower half of the photograph is on this page. In
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
Transient Workers Count Too's recent media statement was carried by the Business Times and Today. The Business Times ('TWC2 unhappy with govt decision to defer payslips', 20 Nov 2013) highlighted The non-profit group also wants the Manpower Ministry (MOM) to "at least institute it as a condition" required of employers who want to apply for
TWC2 spotted a Youtube video described as showing the conditions that foreign workers are housed in when their employers use shipping containers for accommodation. Based on TWC2's experience, this video provides an authentic view of the situation. The video, uploaded by "xising" has no commentary and therefore much contextual information is lacking.
Volunteer Christine Pelly and social worker Karno distribute information flyers (in Tamil) to a worker near Sembawang MRT station 19 November 2013 Media Statement For immediate release Issuing payslips do not add significantly to admin cost; MOM should not accept such an excuse to delay making it mandatory Transient Workers Count Too is
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
As the extent of the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan (also called Yolanda) in the area around the Philippines city of Tacloban became clear, Transient Workers Count Too has been asked what advice we'd give to employers of domestic workers from the affected area. The most urgent issue for workers with relatives in the storm-stricken
