NTUC & MWC to give migrant workers affected by unpaid wages S$200 each, 150 job vacancies found

The National Trade Union Congress (NTUC) and the Migrant Workers Centre (MWC) will be extending S$100 in cash and S$100 in NTUC vouchers to MWC members affected by unpaid wages.

Affected migrant workers can join as an MWC member to receive the cash and vouchers.

150 job vacancies from 40 construction firms are being offered to the affected workers.

Lodging, transport, and food for them are also being arranged.

This comes after over 100 migrant workers from KPA Engineering and SK Industries went down to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) services centre on Jun. 22 to seek help for unpaid wages and housing issues.

About 400 migrant workers were affected.

Visit

In a visit to the Tuas View Dormitory on the morning of Jun. 24, NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng and Ministry of State for Manpower Dinesh Vasu Dash spoke to migrant workers.

They also passed out lunch to the workers.

Speaking to the media, Ng said MOM and NTUC are working to help the migrant workers recover their salaries.

“I think the practice of abandoning the workers and not paying salaries is not something the NTUC will stand without acting upon it. Employers must be responsible, and I am glad that many employers have come forward to assist these migrant workers,” he said.

Ng added that the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) and its partners are working to contact the employers.

“I understand that they may not be in the country, and the due process will have to take place,” he concluded.

Dinesh also highlighted the experiences the migrant workers are facing as a result of this incident, citing that “some of them really do not have much money in their pockets at this point in time”.

He added that MOM would allow them to have interim special passes for “a couple of weeks until they are connected to a new job”.

“We take a very serious view of the employers who might have caused the migrant workers to be in this situation,” he said.

Workers

Some migrant workers spoke to the media during the visit.

Islam Md Raiful, a 20-year-old Bangladeshi national who has been staying in Singapore for six months, said he was owed more than S$2,400 over three months.

Every month, Islam sends about S$500 to his family in Bangladesh to cover his siblings' school fees and living expenses.

He said that as a result of the unpaid wages, he had to borrow money.

Islam has not told his family about this incident.

“This one’s a very critical situation for us (his family)”, he said.

When asked about the help provided, he expressed gratefulness and said it was “very helpful”.

Another migrant worker, Jayasankar Vinothkumar, a 41-year-old Indian national who has worked in Singapore for about 14 years, also spoke about the implications of the unpaid wages.

He joined KPA Engineering on Aug. 2, 2025 and stated that there were already prior issues with salary payouts.

Jayasankar said his eight-year-old daughter apparently stopped attending school as he was unable to pay for her school fees.

Jayasankar is the sole breadwinner of his family, and he is expecting another child.