China Construction Workers Still at MOM on 2 Jan 09

The following article appeared in the New Paper on 2 Jan 2009.

Firm's 'new wage structure' halves their pay
Tan May Ping and Shree Ann Mathavan
2 January 2009
The New Paper

JUST a day after they turned out in full force at the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), hordes of China workers were there again yesterday.

The workers claimed that their complaints about their salaries being drastically reduced had yet to be settled with their employers.

Their other bone of contention was that their employers were taking too long to pay their outstanding wages from September onwards.

More than 100 workers from Zhonghe Huaxing Development and China Nuclear Industry Huaxing Construction Co showed up yesterday and crowded the main entrance of the MOM building at Havelock Road.

Security personnel and the police gotthem to move to the side, away from theentrance.

About 200 workers had gone to the MOM on Tuesday to complain that they had not been paid for four months.

They had also objected to the many 'unfair' deductions from their salaries.

The ministry said on Tuesday that with its intervention, the issues were amicably resolved.

The employers, it said, had banked the September salaries into the workers' accounts that day and had also undertaken to pay all salary arrears by Chinese New Year.

It added that the employers had also undertaken to pay basic salaries on time going forward, and that the parties had reached an understanding on other differences.

But the workers were still unhappy yesterday.

Speaking to The New Paper yesterday, they said their average monthly salary had been reduced from $1,300 to just $700 plus a variable component that depends on their volume of work.

One construction worker in his 30s claimed they were informed of this only on Monday, when they found posters detailing the change in wage structure posted up in their various accommodations.

He said: 'We were promised before coming (to Singapore) that our pay would be $1,300, now it's completely changed.

'What do they mean by this? We should be paid our entire salary.'

He also said that as the company did not divulge how this variable component is calculated, they would be at the mercy of the company.

Like many of his colleagues, this worker who came to Singapore to work in July last year claimed to have been paid only a fraction of the wages due to him.

'$6,000 still owed'

In the six months he has been here, he claimed he has been paid only $1,000 so far.

Some $6,000 in wages are still owed to him, he claimed.

Workers we spoke to also added that the company's schedule of paying them their overdue wages was taking too long.

A construction worker in his 40s told The New Paper: 'All of us have wives, kids, ageing parents to support and many have borrowed from loan sharks to come here.

'How can they take so long? We are anxious, especially since we want to send money in time for Chinese New Year.'

This worker said that they were informed in a meeting with their employers on Tuesday that the monthly wage deduction of $550 would be discontinued.

This deduction was supposed to be returned to them in a lump sum upon completion of their two-year contract.

However, the $150 deduction for water and electricity would remain.

That is something the workers continue to be unhappy about.

Said the worker: 'We already earn so little and yet they want to deduct this and that.'

The workers hoped that by turning up once again at the doorsteps of MOM, the wage dispute could be settled once and for all.

He said: 'We are hoping for a resolution, so this is the only thing we can do.

'If we go to work or just sleep, the problem won't be settled.'

When contacted, a spokesman for the company said the workers had 'wrongly perceived' that the company's wage structure had changed.

He said the variable component of the wage structure has always been there and is necessary because it takes into account the volume of work that workers do.

'That's our right as an employer. It's not a pay cut, it depends on the work they do.'

He said: 'If workers don't work and keep going to MOM, why should we pay them?'

However, when asked about why the posters clarifying the wage structure were put up, he declined to comment further.

But he noted that the salaries stated by the workers were not listed in the companies' contracts.

He said: 'That is the agents' promise, not ours.'

An MOM spokesman said that some of the workers returned to the ministry to raise additional issues, and it is looking into the matter.

The rest of the workers returned to work yesterday, she added.

'China Workers Seek MOM'S Help for the Third Time'

The following article appeared in TODAY, Friday January 2, 2009, p.8

CHINA WORKERS SEEK MOM'S HELP FOR THE THIRD TIME

It may have been a public holiday, but with not much else to do on New Year's Day, a group of about 100 construction workers from China turned up at the Ministry of Manpower for the third consecutive day to express their unhappiness about their situation.

The workers from Zhonghe Huaxing Development and China Nuclear Industry Huaxing Construction first turned up on Tuesday to complain about unauthorised salary "deductions" and wages owed to them. Although the Ministry intervened, and their employer agreed to bank in September's wages, the workers are apparently not willing to wait until the Chinese New Year for the rest of their salary arrears to be paid.

Meanwhile, with more migrant workers coming forward to say they have lost their jobs and months of salaries, the non-profit Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics has set up a special fund to help those who could end up going home penniless, or worse, in debt after coming to Singapore.

With its Institute of Public Character status restored, all donations to its Peace and Justice Fund 2009 will be tax deductible.

For more information, visit www.home.org.sg or email vip@home.org.sg

200 China National Workers Turn Up at MOM

TODAY, 31 Dec 2008

Are these workers just the tip of the iceberg?
By Leong Wee Keat


IN WHAT is becoming a familiar sight, a group of about 200 China national workers turned up at the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) yesterday morning to complain about unauthorised salary deductions and wages owed to them. A group of 28 Bangladeshi workers have also filed similarcomplaints, claiming they had not been paid for the past four months.

Far from being isolated headline makers, recent reports of workers being left in the lurch seem to be the tip of an iceberg.

And the economic crunch, which has led to a swelling excess of manpower in many sectors, is bringing to the surface like never before underhanded practices — such as unsanctioned deductions, illegal deployment of workers and strong-arm tactics by employers during conciliation attempts.

Mr Zhai Yongli, one of the 200 workers at the MOM yesterday, was fearful he would have no money to send home for next month’s Chinese New Year. Like his fellow workers, the 36-year-old alleged that his employer made unauthorised deductions from his salary each month, supposedly for a “deposit” — a sum that has amounted to $8,000 so far.

Other workers from Zhonghe Huaxing Development and China Nuclear Industry Huaxing Construction claimed they were not paid for three months and that they had been subcontracted to other employers without their knowledge. When approached by TODAY, their employer, Mr Ye Fuliang, declined comment.

The China Nationals’ case echoes another high-profile case two weeks ago, when 179 :Bangladeshi workers were abandoned with months of wages unpaid; their registered employer is being probed for illegally deploying them.

TODAY understands that it is not uncommon practice for contractors or employers to bring in more workers than they need, then deploy them out illicitly to another sector for a kickback. But with the downturn and work drying up, these excess workers are left sitting on their hands.

Happily, for the 200 Chinese workers, a MOM spokesperson said late last night that the dispute had been “amicably” resolved – the employers yesterday banked in September’s wages into the workers’ accounts, and have pledged to make good on all arrears by the Chinese New Year, with the first instalment next week.

“The parties have also reached an understanding on other differences,” said the spokesperson.

Strong-arm tactics
Meanwhile, the Bangladeshis who had approached MOM yesterday claimed: they feared repatriation by their employer if they returned to their dormitory. The group of 28 have been sleeping along Desker Road for the past three nights.

Some employers have cancelled work permits even as pay disputes are being settled with MOM – presumably to pressure workers to cave in.

In October and November, 42 PRC workers from Xuyi Building Engineering Company approached MOM to recover their salary arrears and resolve penalty payments. According to MOM, the company unilaterally cancelled the work permits of six claimants, without applying for Special Passes to allow them to remain here pending the settlement of their claims. The six would have thus flouted immigration laws, and could be jailed and fined.

“MOM takes a serious view of such conduct by the employer, which jeopardizes the conciliation process,” said a spokesman. The employer was warned for failing to pay its workers on time, and “its irresponsible conduct” of cancelling the permits.

What such examples show, is that foreign worker’s situation is “quite precarious”, in Madam Halimah Yacob’s words.

“They can only work for one employer. So when they don’t get paid, and they owe creditors back home, they keep quiet, hoping that things will get better. They can’t walk out of the job like the Singaporean can, find another job and file a complaint with MOM,” said the MP who sits on the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Manpower.

She called: on MOM to step up enforcement against rogue employers and to review the foreign workers’ quota – fixed during times of good economic growth – to prevent similar situations from cropping up next year and in 2010.

MP Denise Phua said more agencies should be engaged in solving foreign-worker woes. “The final, total solution needs to be stitched not just by MOM, but with the relevant foreign embassies and other stakeholders like employers’ federations and NTUC ... from ensuring basics like food and lodging, to job placements where possible,” she said.

URL:http://www.todayonline.com/articles/295024.asp