Vision:

Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) promotes fair treatment for migrant workers. We envision a society that recognizes and values the important contribution they make to our households, economy and country.

All labour is dignified and should be treated with respect and consideration. Ethnicity, colour, gender, language, religion or class are irrelevant – no worker should be subjected to inhumane or degrading treatment.

Employers should conduct their business honourably, responsibly and compensate their staff promptly and fairly.

Mission:

Through ground research and engagement with policy makers and employers, we at TWC2 advocate a more enlightened policy framework for migrant labour in Singapore.

We shall extend assistance to workers in need to ensure that they have fair resolution of their cases, dignity in work and living conditions, access to medical care, and protection of their rightful autonomy.

By engaging in public education, we shall promote the social conditions in which exploitation, abuse and injustice become history.

The Cause:

Fifty men six months into their employment, yet to receive their first paychecks. Each has paid thousands of borrowed dollars to secure his job; money lenders are now harassing their families back home. A maid beaten and locked behind closed doors, reduced to bread and instant noodles for meals. A construction worker in pain with a broken leg from a fall, denied treatment because the employer will not pay for surgery to fix the fracture.

These are not stories from a distant land or exaggerations of an undeveloped nation.  These common atrocities are happening much closer to home – in our Singapore.

Nor are they infrequent. New cases show up at Transient Workers Count Too daily.

Yet, low-wage migrant workers are the hidden backbone of our society.  They build our award-winning architecture, keep our streets clean and help raise our children.

There are nearly one million of them in Singapore. Coming mostly from India, China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines,  they make up about a sixth of the total population and are vital to many sectors of the economy: construction, manufacturing, retail and hospitality, sanitation services, marine and petrochemical, and domestic work.

Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) is dedicated to assisting these low-wage migrant workers when they are in difficulty. Join us in helping them.