News and opinions in the public domain and TWC2’s response
TWC2 Executive Committee member Debbie Fordyce was featured in a two-page spread in The New Paper, September 30, 2011. The story's focus was on her extending hospitality to injured migrant workers, letting them stay with her in your apartment till they have recovered or their cases resolved. You can read the full story by downloading
By Spiegel The Straits Times reported October 1, 2011 that The Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) had meted out fines amounting to more than $150,000 to 16 employment agencies for collectively fixing the pay of new Indonesian maids. Members of the group were each fined between $5,000 and $42,317. The CCS explained that the fines
Only four countries are in the list for now, and Singapore is not among them, reported the Straits Times, September 20, 2011. The four destinations are: Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. It was stressed however, that the list is not final and Singapore could be added later. The originating source was Indonesian news
Din Islam, who almost starved to death in the ten days he was trapped in a shipping container, will finally be going home to Bangladesh after six months in Singapore. He had been allowed to stay while waiting for the coroner 's court proceedings inquiring into the death of his friend Mohammad Alamin. The two
Yahoo News reported on 15 September 2011 that 18 workers from China were recently jailed four weeks each for submitting false educational qualifications in order to secure jobs in Singapore. The full article can be read here. Many of those accused pleaded with the court to understand that they had done so under duress, as
Official policy is in the process of change. An inter-agency anti-trafficking task force was set up in November 2010, co-chaired by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Manpower. Singapore says that it is now using the definition of trafficking in the anti-trafficking protocol (see Singapore falls short of international protocol) as the
Here are five reasons why the exploitation of low-wage migrant workers hurts Singaporeans' interests. Wages are depressed When employers get away with paying extremely low wages, or worse, promising low wages, but in actual fact paying even less than that through all sorts of illegal deductions, there is a general lowering of wage levels for
The Manpower Ministry (MOM) said it is currently reviewing the call for the government to implement a weekly rest day for domestic maids with compensation in-lieu. In an email reply to Channel NewsAsia, MOM said it will consult with various stakeholders including employers, employment agencies and non-governmental organisations. Members of the public can email their
ST9 Pte Ltd was fined $50,000 for having more than 1,100 workers at three "dormitories" converted from factories at Woodlands Industrial Park. The men were housed in overcrowded conditions, reported to be at twice the occupant loads. 600 workers were found staying in parts of the buildings that had not been approved for housing. Sunhuan
Statement issued by representatives of 37 organisations meeting in Singapore (including TWC2) calls for regional support for a Domestic Workers' Convention when it comes to a decision at the International Labour Conference in June: Click here to download the statement For more details: http://www.mfasia.org/
