Singapore’s first labor protest since the 1980s led to the deportation of 29 bus Chinese bus drivers yesterday and the prosecution of five others, highlighting the difficulty balancing a work force reliant on foreign employees.
The deportations and strike show the perceived inequality among workers on an island reliant on foreign labor with limited union representation. In a city with 3.3 million citizens and 2 million foreigners, complaints about overseas workers depriving locals of jobs and driving up home prices helped opposition parties win record support in last year’s general elections. Full story
