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http://sg.news.yahoo.com/stop-using...ke’--says-local-activist-group-051232776.html
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Human rights non-governmental organisation Function 8 is calling for a stop to the use of the
phrase “illegal strike” to define the SMRT bus drivers’ labour action at the end of last month.
In a statement released on Monday morning, the group said the four bus drivers from mainland China being charged in court “were clearly doomed from the start” when acting minister for manpower Tan Chuan-Jin used the term in the ministry’s first press conference on the strike.
“The repeated allegation... that the refusal of the bus drivers to report for work constituted an ‘illegal strike’ gives the impression that what the bus drivers had done was ‘illegal’,” the group wrote. “Since the cases have not been determined by the court, it is grievously wrong and prejudicial to the bus drivers to label their action as an ‘illegal strike’. It is commenting on a pending case and the law is clear that such comments are sub judice and constitute contempt of court.”
The repeated use of the term “illegal strike” amounts to prejudging the ongoing case regarding the four bus drivers, the group added, and “can only be calculated to influence the decision of the judge/s”.
“If we are a first-world nation and believe in the rule of law, we must ensure that all accused persons receive a fair and just trial,” they said.
Function 8 is a group of Singaporeans, among whom is former Internal Security Act (ISA) detainee Teo Soh Lung, that campaigns for human rights causes, in particular the abolishment of the ISA.
Earlier this year, the group organised an event at Speakers' Corner to raise awareness and garner signatures for a petition calling for further scrutiny into Operation Spectrum, which occurred in 1987.
Previously, Tan explained that the government’s cautiousness in using the word “strike” was deliberate as there are legal ramifications to its employment.
He told Channel NewsAsia that labelling what happened as a strike would require the implementation of “a whole series of actions”.
“So I think it (was) not something trivial, and we wanted to be sure that it was indeed what it was, and we were prepared to carry out the follow-on actions,” he said then. “So you want to make sure that your assets are in place, people are clear on what they need to do following on from that, and thereafter really to find the right time to make the announcement.”
Late last month, more than 180 SMRT bus drivers from China were involved in a two-day strike at the Woodlands dormitories that housed the majority of them, protesting a disparity in wages between them and their Malaysian colleagues.
Four of them who allegedly instigated the strike were remanded and charged in court, while one more later pleaded guilty to charges of key involvement and is now serving a six-week jail sentence. The first four are now out on bail and their court case is ongoing.
Meanwhile, a further 29 drivers were dismissed and deported for their involvement in the strike, while another 150 were issued police warnings.
Days later, two Chinese construction workers staged a nine-hour protest atop two cranes at Jurong Port. They, too, were arrested and charged in court, but for criminal trespass, and have both claimed trial and are out on bail.
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/stop-using...ke’--says-local-activist-group-051232776.html
.
Human rights non-governmental organisation Function 8 is calling for a stop to the use of the
phrase “illegal strike” to define the SMRT bus drivers’ labour action at the end of last month.
In a statement released on Monday morning, the group said the four bus drivers from mainland China being charged in court “were clearly doomed from the start” when acting minister for manpower Tan Chuan-Jin used the term in the ministry’s first press conference on the strike.
“The repeated allegation... that the refusal of the bus drivers to report for work constituted an ‘illegal strike’ gives the impression that what the bus drivers had done was ‘illegal’,” the group wrote. “Since the cases have not been determined by the court, it is grievously wrong and prejudicial to the bus drivers to label their action as an ‘illegal strike’. It is commenting on a pending case and the law is clear that such comments are sub judice and constitute contempt of court.”
The repeated use of the term “illegal strike” amounts to prejudging the ongoing case regarding the four bus drivers, the group added, and “can only be calculated to influence the decision of the judge/s”.
“If we are a first-world nation and believe in the rule of law, we must ensure that all accused persons receive a fair and just trial,” they said.
Function 8 is a group of Singaporeans, among whom is former Internal Security Act (ISA) detainee Teo Soh Lung, that campaigns for human rights causes, in particular the abolishment of the ISA.
Earlier this year, the group organised an event at Speakers' Corner to raise awareness and garner signatures for a petition calling for further scrutiny into Operation Spectrum, which occurred in 1987.
Previously, Tan explained that the government’s cautiousness in using the word “strike” was deliberate as there are legal ramifications to its employment.
He told Channel NewsAsia that labelling what happened as a strike would require the implementation of “a whole series of actions”.
“So I think it (was) not something trivial, and we wanted to be sure that it was indeed what it was, and we were prepared to carry out the follow-on actions,” he said then. “So you want to make sure that your assets are in place, people are clear on what they need to do following on from that, and thereafter really to find the right time to make the announcement.”
Late last month, more than 180 SMRT bus drivers from China were involved in a two-day strike at the Woodlands dormitories that housed the majority of them, protesting a disparity in wages between them and their Malaysian colleagues.
Four of them who allegedly instigated the strike were remanded and charged in court, while one more later pleaded guilty to charges of key involvement and is now serving a six-week jail sentence. The first four are now out on bail and their court case is ongoing.
Meanwhile, a further 29 drivers were dismissed and deported for their involvement in the strike, while another 150 were issued police warnings.
Days later, two Chinese construction workers staged a nine-hour protest atop two cranes at Jurong Port. They, too, were arrested and charged in court, but for criminal trespass, and have both claimed trial and are out on bail.
