A group of 200 disgruntled foreign workers went on a seven-hour sit-out on Monday morning in Tampines over a dispute of unpaid salaries. (Photo: Cheong Yaoming)
A group of 200 disgruntled foreign workers went on a seven-hour sit-out on Monday morning in Tampines over a dispute of unpaid salaries.
Instead of starting work at 8 am, Bangladeshi workers from Sunway Concrete Pte Ltd and TechCom Construction gathered in an empty field at Tampines Industrial Street 62.
Sunway is the main contractor and Techcom is the sub-contractor hired by HDB to fabricate building materials for flats.
The workers have not been paid for four months running, since November last year. They were also unhappy about the quality of the food served in the canteen.
“All men same problem, all men no pay for four months,” said K. Ravhkumar. According to the 35-year-old, his usual working hours are from 8am to 10pm.
However, he said that workers would be made to work till 12 am on busy days, without overtime pay. An average worker earns a basic salary of $18 per day.
The strike slowly dissipated at about 3pm as workers were told by representatives of the company that they would receive their November pay today, and their December pay next Friday.
It is not confirmed when they will receive their salary for January.
According to some workers, it is not the first time the company has fallen behind payments for its foreign workers.
In addition, the Bangladeshi workers also complained about the poor quality of food served in the canteen. Said Samid Sikdek, 35: “Cow also cannot makan (eat), we how to makan.”
Currently, about $150 is deducted each month from their salaries as food expenses, and another $20-50 for utilities.
A spokesman for Sunway, who declined to be named, claimed that the sit-out originated from a core group of about 10 Bangladeshi workers.
“A few of them took some weapons and threatened the others. Some don’t know what is going on but just joined in…Majority of the workers do not dare to speak because they are scared they will get hamtum (beaten up),” he said.
Jolovan Wham, a representative from the Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics, said: “From my experience, workers usually resort to such actions when they are desperate and fed up. I believe they must have reached the tipping point for them to decide not to work.”
When contacted by Yahoo! Singapore, TechCom declined to comment, while the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has not responded at press time.
