Left To Their Fate

TODAY online ran this story today:

AT ONE point yesterday, the group of 179 hungry Bangladeshi workers were not even sure if, by nightfall, they would be turned out onto the streets to spend a chilly December night.

Many had not eaten all day — meals, supposed to have been docked from their wages, were not delivered. For that matter, most claimed not to have been paid for up to three months.

On Monday, the agent they had called “Boss” for the past year told them that he was no longer their “employer”. He emptied his office, kept their passports, and left the workers to their fate at their Tagore Lane dormitory. The next day, the landlord threatened to evict them as the rent was not paid.

Showing this reporter his empty wallet, a tearful Abdul Hamid pleaded for the authorities to step in. “I don’t know what will happen. I have not eaten for a day. If you don’t eat for a day, what will happen to you?”

The 179 are believed to be the largest single group of migrant workers here to have been abandoned by an employer or agent.

And their plight has surfaced just as the world today marks a sober :International Migrants Day, with the International Labour Organisation warning that millions of migrant workers face layoffs and worsening conditions as the global financial crisis deepens.

In Singapore, the Bangladesh High Commission said it has heard over 1,000 salary dispute cases this year — last year, there were some 300. With the downturn, a spokeswoman said, more disputes can be expected. “Contractors and subcontractors have brought in more people than they actually require,” she added.

In recent weeks, migrant workers’ groups have gotten complaints from at least 50 workers claiming they were owed wages; some said their companies had been forced to close down.

Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) president John Gee said: “Contractors large and small are feeling the pinch, and we think that, in looking for ways of trimming costs, they all too often think of foreign workers as those they can pass their problems on to.”

Bad enough, many will lose their jobs; those even less lucky may get sacked without being paid back-wages owed.

MOM comes down on employer

In the case of the 179 Bangladeshis, they told TODAY they had paid between $8,000 and $10,000 to come to Singapore to work. They thought their agent, Mr Uthayanan, was their boss.

Officially, however, their registered employer – which the workers claimed they had never seen, prior to this month – was Tipper Corporation, a marine company.

Tipper said Mr Uthayanan was supposed to look after the workers, and that the workers were supposed to have been on a training programme to pick up job skills, before being brought in to work on a big project for the company in March next year.

However, many of the Bangladeshis have been in Singapore since July last year – going by the date on their work permits – and they claim to have worked for three to six other companies. They also claim to have been paid less than $250 a month.

Tipper said the abandonment saga had arisen from the souring of a business agreement between Tipper and four parties, one of whom was Mr Uthayanan. The company had filed a writ of summons against the four on Dec 2.

When contacted by TODAY, Mr Uthayanan would only say he was not responsible for the workers, and declined to comment further.

In response to queries, a Ministry of Manpower (MOM) spokesman said it is investigating Tipper for the illegal deployment of foreign workers, as well as the failure to pay the workers their salary. “Work pass applications by Tipper Corporation will also no longer be accepted by MOM,” she added. “Tipper Corporation remains responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the workers, and if they fail to fulfil their responsibility, they will be committing further breaches of the law.”

For the 179 workers, the good news is that they will have a roof over their heads at least for now. :Dinner last night – their only meal of the day was catered by TWC2. Tipper also assured them it would resolve the outstanding salary disputes and move the men to new accommmodation on Saturday, and until then they could stay on at the dormitory.

The desperate among them can only hope that things work out. Said Mr Shafique Alomgir: “My father and mother died recently. One dollar also I don’t have to send back.”