The Chinese migrant workers at Panasonic’s Singapore plant are at the end of their rope. After attempts to discuss and negotiate with management failed, the men and women have decided to send in a petition to draw attention to their grievances.
The workers involved in the petition are from Panasonic Refrigeration Devices Singapore Pte Ltd (PRDS), one of the manufacturing divisions.
The petition, originally written in Chinese, highlights the workers’ plight: with a basic pay of S$500 (approx. USD399) a month, many are forced to work overtime (often beyond the legal limit of 72 hours) to earn a decent wage.
But many of these workers have actually paid up to S$6000 (approx. USD4786) each to the employment agency to be brought to Singapore to work for Panasonic. According to Singapore’s Employment Agencies Act, it is illegal to charge so much money for a work placement. The Act states that an employment agency can only charge two months’ basic salary for a two-year work permit; in this case the agency has charged up to six times that amount.Full story
