They banded together yesterday and showed up at the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) building on Havelock Road to lodge complaints against their employer, construction firm Zhonghe Huaxing Development.
Not just a few workers' representatives but a group of 200 showed up for greater impact. Foreign workers with grievances, like them, are both seen and heard in Singapore, judging from a string of cases over the years.
Though many don't speak English well or have high education, they often quickly learn the art of seeking attention from the right people.
Step 1: MOM which oversees the welfare of workers.
Step 2: The media which migrant workers have access to.
In the case of the Zhonghe Huaxing workers, they alleged they were not getting the salaries due to them, and objected to alleged unfair deductions from their wages.
Yesterday, the first group showed up around 8am. As subsequent batches arrived on the MRT and public buses, the workers clapped and cheered in a show of solidarity.
By 9am, their numbers had swelled to more than 200. They seemed to feel there was strength in numbers.
Security personnel at the building were put on alert. The men were later herded to a space at the back of the building, but still visible to those who were in the lobby.
They sat on the ground as MOM officers spoke to them, and the security officers stood watch. Their sheer numbers attracted stares from those inside the building.
When The New Paper team arrived at 10am, a group of about six had broken away from the rest and were outside the main entrance. When approached, they were anxious to tell their stories.
They alleged they had not been paid for a few months, and were frustrated that more than half of their salaries were deducted each month for various expenses. Sleeping under tree
Another group of workers was spotted at the MOM yesterday.
This group of 18 Bangladeshi men had been featured in the media last week after spending the weekend sleeping on cardboard under a tree at Jalan Kayu.
Yesterday, they gave their statements to MOM about their pay dispute with their employers. The group's spokesman,Mr Mohammad Monerul Islam Monto, 28, claimed they were given work for only about three of the seven months that they were here.
He told The New Paper: 'We borrowed money and paid our agents $10,000 each, but haven't been given our pay since we came here. If we go back (without any money), we are dead.'
But their employers,JM Building Construction and Jericho Marine Services, had earlier said the workers were paid, and that they worked for only a fraction of their seven months here.
The other side
Employers can't take complaints lightly because they are subject to labour laws and are responsible for the conduct and repatriation of all foreign workers.
Meanwhile, the authorities don't want a wrong impression created that a significant proportion of foreign workers here get a raw deal. This is suggested by their responses when workers stage a mass event.
Yesterday, an MOM officer interrupted the interview with Zhonghe Huaxing workers and said that journalists should speak to his colleagues from the corporate communications department, which usually handles media queries.
But as the interviews were conducted outside the building, they continued.
'Did he say that you cannot talk to us?' one of the workers asked. Of course, there are no such restrictions here.
Just then, the workers noticed one of their bosses approaching. They said he was also from China.
'You'd better watch what you say,' the man said in Mandarin to the workers, and stood close by, determined to break up the interview. The workers turned silent and said they would speak to us later.
A member of MOM's corporate communications department then showed up, and said that the ministry would issue a statement. Could we speak to the other workers?
After checking with her colleagues, she said it was not possible as the workers were speaking with the MOM officers and it could take some time. She added: 'It's better if you speak with the employer.'
When The New Paper later rang the workers to enquire about their welfare, they said they didn't have any idea where they were but were given some food to eat.
It is understood the workers were taken to an MOM office on Kim Seng Road. They were later gathered in a hall where they had a meeting with MOM officials.
'We were told to work with the company,' said one worker in his 30s from Jiangsu province. Their bosses and some security personnel stood by. The workers were not allowed by their employer to leave the building. Once the meeting was over, the company transported them back to their housing.
And their show of solidarity worked. By the end of the day, their employers had met their demands.
Free meals
Meanwhile, the Bangladeshi workers from Jericho Marine said two of their colleagues involved in the pay dispute had flown home in the morning.
Said Mr Mohammad: 'Their relatives sent them money to buy air tickets to go home.We have no money, so w eare stuck here.' They are currently getting free daily dinners at a restaurant on Desker Road.
On22 Dec, The Straits Times reported that the workers had to leave their dormitory in Tuas when their project in Jurong was completed. They were bound for a dormitory in Bukit Batok, but at the last minute, the deal was called off by the person in charge there.
That left the workers with nowhere to stay, and as a temporary measure, they were taken to the company's workers' quarters at a shop house unit in Jalan Kayu.
But the workers said the apartment was overcrowded, and opted to sleep on a nearby grass patch instead.
After the men approached welfare group Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics, they were put up at various shop houses in Little India.
This article was first published in The New Paper on December 31, 2008.
