Non-TWC2 activity: media interest
Today newspaper devoted a full page to our newly-released research report on weekly day off for domestic workers. Of the 195 respondents surveyed by the non-governmental organisation from July 2013 to October last year, only 41 per cent said they had four rest days each month. Close to a quarter said they got either one
We didn't at first plan to write up their story because it was a story we've heard countless times before -- not that their plight was any less distressful for them. The men from Harri Construction complained of unpaid salaries, losing their jobs, and terrible conditions at their quarters. But two months later, the Straits
Once in a while an anonymous Singaporean posts something nice about migrant workers. Here, a little tale that first appeared on Singapore Stomp: This is the link to the original.
On 27 August 2014, The Straits Times published an opinion article by John Gee, immediate past president of TWC2, which the paper titled 'Ensuring better protection for migrant workers'. Here, John has revised the article slightly, elaborating on some points at the same time. By John Gee At the end of this year, Singapore seems
The Straits Times recently carried a story about foreign worker accommodation. Unfortunately, it didn't get to the heart of the matter: the way government policies affect cost and affordability considerations. The newspaper's 19 August 2014 story spoke about the rising number of vacancies at purpose-built dormitories. There are about 5,000 vacancies, said the story, though
In her column published 6 July 2014 in the Sunday Times, Radha Basu highlighted the fact that many foreign workers in Singapore are still being paid at the ridiculous rate of $2 per hour. In preparing her article, she was provided evidence of this by Transient Workers Count Too, in the form of a pay
Continued from Woolim, part 1: How low can a salary get? Early January 2014, Iqbal comes to the office with a group of his co-workers telling us that three of the fifteen men have accepted a settlement offer from the employer Woolim, wherein each of them would receive $2,000. This, says Iqbal, is a far
Sunday Times, 9 February 2014 carried a feature article by Radha Basu, leading with a figure that Bangladeshi worker Hussain Iqbal had given TWC2: $1.50. That was the hourly rate that his employer paid him for nearly a year, despite a document issued by the Ministry of Manpower confirming that his employer Woolim would pay
A street in Little India. Photo: Reuters/Ajlazeera Aljazeera quoted TWC2 in its story dated 18 December 2013 on the Little India riot (Singapore soul searching follows migrant riot, by Tom Benner and Satish Cheney). It quoted TWC2 president Russell Heng saying: "We believe that chronic maltreatment and disempowerment can lead to a sense
Ambulance set ablaze. Photo: Straits Times A Chinese-language magazine Life Week carried a feature article (its headline, translated into English: A rare riot exploded in Singapore) about issues surrounding migrant workers in Singapore, in the wake of the riot that occurred on Sunday 8 December 2013. Translated into English, key passages include: "The
