Job mobility

13 09, 2017

Bangladesh’s Financial Express: The plight of Singapore migrants from Bangladesh

webmaster2019-08-30T16:31:31+08:00September 13th, 2017|Media Coverage, News|

"The root of the problem faced by Bangladesh workers is a hands-off attitude by both governments. More on the side of the Bangladesh government," TWC2's Alex Au was quoted as saying in an article in Bangladesh's Financial Express newspaper, 9 September 2017. Another volunteer with TWC2, Nicholas Harrigan, added that the Singapore government should consider

23 08, 2017

Letter to Straits Times: MOM’s advice out of step with reality

webmaster2019-08-30T16:31:31+08:00August 23rd, 2017|Media Coverage, News, Our Stand|

Straits Times' photo of the rented room in Geylang where the SJH workers are currently staying On 13 August 2017, the Straits Times highlighted the case of over a dozen Bangladeshi workers from SJH Trading. They told the newspaper that they had not been paid their salaries. Most are in their 40s, and

14 07, 2017

Migrant workers in Singapore “vulnerable to forced labor, including debt bondage”, says US TIP 2017 report

webmaster2019-08-30T16:31:32+08:00July 14th, 2017|News, Our Stand|

Transient Workers Count Too is deeply appreciative of the US State Department's efforts at drawing attention to the evil of trafficking in persons, through its annual Trafficking in Persons Report. The 2017 segment relating to Singapore can be found here: https://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2017/271276.htm Singapore was classed as Tier 2. TWC2 notes in particular these comments in the report:

22 06, 2017

The rough seas of debt

GuestContributor2019-08-30T16:31:32+08:00June 22nd, 2017|Articles, Stories|

In an earlier story[1], Liang Lei has sketched the origins of Sikder Sumon's salary case and the long time it took at the Ministry of Manpower. Here, Edgar Chan adds a bit more detail about the MOM process and discusses the wider context By Edgar Chan On the evening of 25 May 2017, at Isthana

6 06, 2016

Kuwait allows foreign workers to change employers without employer’s consent after 3 years of work

webmaster2019-08-30T16:32:02+08:00June 6th, 2016|News, News Flash|

In a significant law change, Kuwait now permits a foreign worker to switch employer, without the previous employer's consent, if the worker has worked three years. According to a Kuwait Times's story dated 6 June 2016, decree 378/2016 "amended article 6 of decree 842/2015 regarding transferring workers from one employer to another". "The employee can

16 05, 2016

Forced repatriation can lead to death, needs to be addressed

alex2019-08-30T16:32:02+08:00May 16th, 2016|Articles, Facts, research, analysis, News, Our Stand|

Three recent posts here at this site demonstrate that employers continue to try to forcibly repatriate foreign workers, despite workers having unresolved salary claims or untreated injuries. This practice inflicts a great injustice on them. The failure of the authorities to stop it can only lead to speculation about conscious neglect. Mark Lamb has an eye-witness account of

14 01, 2015

Deeply in debt, Musfiqur stays cheerful

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:32:54+08:00January 14th, 2015|Articles, Stories|

By Ashley Frois We're barely under the eaves. Rain, like troubles, pours down mere inches from our seats. Everything is damp. Two seats away and drier, a fellow volunteer is interviewing another construction worker, Rahman Sadequr. That worker is speaking morosely of his money problems. My interviewee, Musfiqur (pictured above), is strangely upbeat. He too

15 12, 2014

John Gee in Straits Times: A win-win way to help injured foreign workers

webmaster2019-08-30T16:32:55+08:00December 15th, 2014|Media Coverage, News, Our Stand|

This is the opinion piece by John Gee of Transient Workers Count Too, published in the Straits Times, 3 December 2014. ---- A win-win way to help injured foreign workers The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is considering outsourcing the inspection of workplaces to counter the illegal employment of foreign workers, a task that currently involves

6 05, 2014

Salary problems two jobs in a row

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:33:32+08:00May 6th, 2014|Articles, Stories|

By Peter Looker Polash has no passport. He can't go home. "My boss, he say passport lost." His previous boss at Timberlux International Pte Ltd claimed not to have the passport. “Boss alibaba,” Polash alleges, using the shorthand term widely understood among migrant workers to mean 'untruthful'. What led up to this dispute has been written in

21 04, 2014

TWC2 calls for comprehensive bill on labour trafficking

webmaster2019-08-30T16:33:32+08:00April 21st, 2014|Articles, Facts, research, analysis, News, Our Stand|

TWC2 calls for practices of labour trafficking suffered by low wage migrant workers in all sectors of employment and foreign fishermen who dock in Singapore or on transit in the country to be addressed in the “Prevention of Human Trafficking Bill”. In a 17-page document submitted via email on 18 April 2014 to the address