Dulal did not want to work for the current employer anymore. He would find a new job. The employer's reaction was to shackle him. The manpower ministry provided the metaphorical shackle.
MOM's "adjustment" of the no-consent period makes it contingent upon employers giving consent. Circular logic?
Omar asked for a raise at Work Permit renewal. The employer refused. With the permit expiring, he thought he could use MOM's no-consent period to get a new job.
Singapore's migrant labour management flow along lines that look like ethnic discrimination. Workers in certain sectors are treated differently from those in other sectors, but sectors are only open to certain nationalities.
MOM announced a temporary retention scheme to keep laid-off construction workers in Singapore. Six workers kept us informed of their experience while waiting for new jobs.
A busload of migrant workers are given a half day out from confinement from their dorms. They tell us what they feel. Video by Wee Kim Wee School students.
Hundreds of mostly unvaccinated workers came down with Covid-19 at a dormitory, but the scene was set well before by government policies or neglect.
TADM's conception of its mediation role, in our view, undermines the neutrality one would expect of it and intentionally or not, creates a bias against employees.
Covid-19 is not the only easily transmissible disease around. There's another and it's been killing more people for years. Yet, we didn't lock up our workers.
Far from justifying continued confinement of migrant workers in dorms, the cluster in Westlite Juniper shows how hollow the argument for confinement is.
