Discussion: economics of labour migration
It's too simplistic to speak in terms of iron-clad job security, but a lot more can be done to help migrant workers with career longevity and financial security. Start with recruitment costs.
Improvement in housing should be only one element in a broader reforms, if we are to arrive at a more ethical relationship with migrant labour. Job restrictions, low salaries, etc, must also be addressed.
Workers' experiences during the lock-down: a sister helping another who lost her job, a worker who came to Singapore and found a missing employer, a worker stuck here worried about his collapsing house...
Workers' experiences during the lock-down: about anxiety, life in a temporary hospital, vanishing salaries, financial disaster. Also about the things going on at TWC2: donations pouring in and volunteers running around.
Actions and demands by the government strongly impact the economics of dormitories. Improving minimum standards from 4.5 to 7.5 sq metres per head does not have to mean substantial cost increases.
The current minimum of 4.5 sq metres per person is too low a standard. It should be 7.5 sq metres. There shouldn't be barracks-style dorms anymore, but apartment-type accommodation with a max of 8 persons per apartment.
An essay based on a talk given by Alex Au at a Labour Day webinar organised by Maruah in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic that badly affected migrant workers in Singapore.
A worker under TWC2's care was diagnosed with Covid-19. What does treatment and recovery for a foreign worker feel like? What unresolved issues remain? We interview him by phone.
Moving foreign workers out of crowded dorms is imperative, but slow action is probably traceable to mental blocks among policy-makers. Due to obstinacy, how bad can things get? Very bad.
Yarif has been waiting more than a year for this injury compensation claim to conclude. He's told that his Special Pass won't be extended much longer.