Singapore to start jobs for 400 migrant workers after alleged abandonment

Singapore's labour movement will begin placing more than 400 migrant workers in new jobs next week. The relief effort follows months of unpaid wages and an alleged abandonment by their firms' common director.

In Short

• Workers say they went unpaid for three to four months
• Three linked firms shared a director now believed to have fled
• NTUC and MWC plan moving workers into one lodging facility by weekend

Job placements for more than 400 migrant workers, mostly from India and Bangladesh, linked to an alleged abandonment case involving companies owned by an Indian-origin man, will begin next week, Singapore's main labour organisation said on Friday.

The workers were hired by three firms that share a common director, who is believed to have left the country after several months of unpaid wages. The National Trades Union Congress said it has received interest from over 80 companies offering close to 400 vacancies, with more referrals being sent by its unions.

"On jobs, we have received interest from over 80 companies with close to 400 vacancies, and our unions are sending in more referrals," NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng said in a social media post. He also said NTUC and the NGO Migrant Workers' Centre would move the workers to a single lodging facility by this weekend.

Ng said the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management was at Tuas View Dormitory, where the workers are currently staying, to help the remaining workers file their claims directly. TADM is a joint effort by the Ministry of Manpower, NTUC and the Singapore National Employers Federation to help employees and employers resolve employment disputes. "Job placement kicks off next week. We will make sure no one is left behind in this process," The Straits Times quoted Ng as saying.

On Wednesday, NTUC and MWC gave the workers SGD 100 in cash and SGD 100 in supermarket vouchers to help with daily expenses. The workers had approached the Ministry of Manpower earlier this week after not being paid for three to four months. The firms involved are SK Industries, KPA Engineering and VVR Plant Engineering, all of which share a common director, Ramu Palani Velu, who is uncontactable and is believed to have left Singapore, according to media reports.

With PTI Inputs

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