Migrants' woes on display in
Singapore By Megawati Wijaya
SINGAPORE - A recent strike involving
Chinese workers in Singapore highlights the often
unreported plight of migrant labor, including a
growing number of people from mainland China, in
this wealthy city state. Although foreign workers
make up more than one-third of the country’s
workforce, activists say that more needs to be
done to protect their rights against often
unscrupulous employers.
On November 26,
171 mainland Chinese bus drivers at state-linked
transport company SMRT refused to board their
buses in protest over their perceived poor living
conditions and low wages. Chinese migrant drivers
are paid on average S$1,075 (US$880) a month,
while Malaysians receive S$1,400 and Singaporeans
S$1,600. The Chinese migrants also protested
against their poor
living conditions, where
eight drivers from different shifts were forced to
share the same bug-infested room.
Acting
Manpower Minister Tan Chuan Jin referred to the
protest as “an illegal strike” because public
transport services are listed as "essential
services" under the Criminal Law (Temporary
Provisions) Act. Under the law, strikes are
illegal for workers in these sectors unless they
give the employer 14 days' notice of their intent
to go on strike and comply with requirements of
the notice.
Four drivers - He Jun Ling,
Gao Yue Qiang, Liu Xiangying, and Weng Xianjie -
were later charged for instigating the strike,
while He faces an additional charge of "inciting"
workers to strike. The four have said they will
defend themselves against the charges. If found
guilty, they face up to a year in prison and/or
fines of up to S$2,000 for conducting an illegal
strike under article 9(1) of the Criminal Law
(Temporary Provisions) Act.
The fifth
driver, Bao Feng Shan, appearing in court without
a lawyer, was sentenced immediately to six weeks
in jail. Twenty-nine other drivers who took part
in the strike were detained and immediately
deported.
The strike by migrants, unusual
for the island state's tightly controlled society,
has caused diplomatic ripples between China and
Singapore. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong
Lei called on the Singaporean side to take Chinese
workers' specific conditions and legitimate
appeals into full consideration, to discreetly and
properly handle the case, and to protect the
lawful rights of the arrested Chinese workers,
Xinhua reported.
In Hong Kong, meanwhile,
about 20 members of the Hong Kong Confederation of
Trade Unions held a protest at the Singapore
Consulate in a show of solidarity with the
detained and deported drivers. They also called on
the Singapore government to reinstate the 29
drivers who were repatriated and to drop the
charges against the five who were detained.
Just as the strike made global headlines,
two mainland Chinese construction workers, Zhu
Guilei and Wu Xiaolin, climbed on the top of two
10-story tower cranes at a work site in
Singapore's western Jurong district in protest
over a wage dispute with their employer, Zhong
Jiang International. Police quickly arrested the
two Chinese workers for intentionally causing
alarm and criminal trespassing.
More
broadly, the two incidents highlighted the plight
of many migrant workers in Singapore. John Gee, a
migrant rights activist and immediate past
president at Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), a
non-profit organization that champions the welfare
of migrant workers, said his organization handled
more than 2,000 complaint cases filed by migrant
workers last year, ranging from pay disputes to
physical abuse. He expects to receive at least
2,500 cases by the end of this year.
Loh
Kah Seng, a historian who has written extensively
on Singapore’s migrant workers and trade unions,
notes that strikes were common during post-World
War II Singapore in the 1940s-1960s. Despite that
frequency, however, he notes that it is not a
light decision for workers to go on strike in
Singapore.
"Going on strike is a very big
thing for [the Chinese migrant worker drivers]
given the consequences that they face, such as
possibly losing their jobs and income," Loh said.
"The fact that workers still went on strike in the
past despite having so much to lose says much
about their desperate socio-economic plight," he
said.
Migrant dependence Faced
with a declining birthrate, Singapore is
increasingly dependent on migrant workers to fuel
economic growth.
In 1970, the number of
foreign workers in Singapore was only 20,828, then
making up 3.2% of the total labor force. That
number steadily grew to 248,200, or 16.1% of the
total labor force in 1990; 615,700 or 28.1% of the
total workforce in 2000; to 1.09 million, or 34.7%
of all workers in 2010. As of June 2012, there
were 1.23 million foreign workers in Singapore,
making up 36.7% of the total labor force.
Brenda Yeoh, a professor at National
University of Singapore and Principal Investigator
of the Asian Metacentre for Population and
Sustainable Development Analysis at the Asia
Research Institute, noted in a paper published in
April that about 80% of new arrivals in Singapore
in the 2000s were low-skilled workers, primarily
in the construction, domestic labor, services,
manufacturing, and marine industries.
Since 2008, some foreign workers have also
been admitted as performers for work in bars,
discotheques, lounges, night clubs, hotels, and
restaurants. The remaining 20% are considered
"skilled" and are generally better-educated,
employment-pass holders, along with a small number
of entrepreneurs who are often referred to as
"foreign talent".
This higher-paid group
are allowed residence passes to help establish
Singapore as a financial and biomedical hub;
low-skilled migrants are generally brought in as
cheap labor to suppress costs and boost
competitiveness, labor sources say.
Today,
Singapore is by certain measures the world's
richest country, even while its average wages are
among the lowest. Singapore's per capital gross
domestic product in 2010 was S$70,000, according
to the Wealth Report 2012, a global study on
property and wealth compiled by Knight Frank and
Citi Private Bank. Wages, however, are lagging
behind as exemplified by the case of the aggrieved
migrant Chinese bus drivers.
While migrant
workers have been essential to Singapore's
economic success, state authorities are lagging
behind in protecting their rights, according to
labor activists. In particular, they note that
employers are able to repatriate workers at
anytime during their contracts without prior
notice.
In a July press release, the
Ministry of Manpower noted that in the event of
employment termination, employers are required to
give their workers notice according to the period
stated in the contract or, if not specified in the
contract, in the Employment Act. In reality, many
workers are kept in the dark until hours before
their repatriation. TWC2 has documented many cases
where migrant workers learn about their
deportation while they are on their way to the
airport.
"That's why the deportation of 29
Chinese drivers was so effective in stopping the
strike. The government kills the chicken to
frighten the monkey," said Sinapan Samydorai,
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
director at the civil society group Think Centre,
quoting a Chinese proverb. "The drivers had
complained for six months, but the management was
not doing anything," said Samydorai, whose
organization handles cases ranging from
non-payment of wages to human trafficking.
Little protection Fear of
reprisal muzzles many exploited migrants. A
reporter from Hong Kong on assignment to cover the
bus strike recalled to a recent forum on the issue
about a note passed to her by a Chinese driver
saying that none of the workers dared to raise any
issues to the media for fear of retribution
through deportation. Singapore's local press is
heavily influenced by the People's Action Party
(PAP)-dominated government.
Non-payment of
wages is another frequent abuse, sources say.
Employers often take advantage of the workers'
helplessness by not paying them on time or in
full. The Ministry of Manpower has publicly urged
workers to bring such cases to its attention. In
reality, however, many migrant workers are not
issued pay slips or work contracts, which makes it
extremely difficult for them to legally follow up
their cases, sources say.
Significantly,
the migrant Chinese drivers at SMRT were not
card-carrying members of the country's only union,
the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).
Singapore's labor system is notable for its
tripartite arrangement in which unions, employers,
and the government work closely together for
mutual benefit. The NTUC is often seen to side
with the government and employers rather than
aggrieved employees.
Following the recent
strike, the NTUC was quick to issue a statement
that it supports the action taken by the
government regarding the "illegal strike" of the
SMRT's bus drivers. The NTUC also said it does not
have a legal mandate to represent the aggrieved
workers.
"It is important to send a clear
signal to all workers that as a nation ruled by
law, there are proper ways of dealing with issues
and disagreement," NTUC said in a statement. "Any
action that is illegal must and will be dealt with
firmly, regardless of whether the workers are
local or foreign. We have a system in place to
deal with workplace issues and grievances, one
that has been painstakingly built over the years
and has served us well. This must continue," it
said.
Although the Chinese migrant strike
was short-lived, it did raise awareness about the
plight of Singapore's many exploited migrant
workers.
The Ministry of Manpower
immediately carried out an investigation into the
incident and found that housekeeping in the
drivers' dormitories was indeed "below par" and
that drivers working different shifts were often
roomed together, making it difficult for workers
to get any rest. It also singled out the SMRT,
saying that it could have done better in managing
labor grievances and concerns.
Labor
activists expect the Ministry of Manpower to pay
closer attention in future to these concerns
considering their potential to generate poor
international publicity and domestic instability.
Migrant worker activists acknowledge that
the ministry has recently improved in providing
more communication channels to respond to labor
complaints. In September, the ministry introduced
amendments to the Employment of Foreign Manpower
Act upon calls by activists for greater
enforcement of the law against employers found to
be exploiting migrant workers.
The
changes, approved by the parliament, include
enhanced penalties for violations and the
conversion of certain criminal breaches to
administrative ones so that errant employers can
be more quickly penalized. The changes also
included the appointment of commissioners to
enforce ministry regulations more stringently.
However, more meaningful progress on the
issue has been slow because many politicians don't
see potential political gains from championing
migrant worker rights, particularly amid rising
local sentiment against foreigners that bubbled up
during last year's general election, said Goh Meng
Seng, former secretary general of the opposition
National Solidarity Party.
Megawati
Wijaya is a Singapore-based journalist. She
may be contacted at megawati.wijaya@gmail.com
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