The following is extracted from a Pinoy abroad website and detailed the exploitative work conditions of Filipinos here for a on-job-training (OJT) scheme with our F & B industry.
Senator Franklin Drilon of Philippines said he wants to look into the situation of Filipino on-the-job trainees in Singapore who are allegedly being forced to work in hotels there for half of the minimum wage (GMA news).
“They (Singapore hotels) recruit students under the guise of OJT [scheme], they pay them half of what is required under Singapore laws. This is [a] rampant practice in Singapore. This is something that we have to expose,” Drilon said after the Senate budget hearing of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
What’s worse, he said, is that the students are not protected by any Philippine government agency because they do not pass through the DOLE, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).
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Hi I’ m currently in Singapore and taking my OJT (for one freaking year) here in a hotel.
I was assigned in Housekeeping (HK) department to be one of the Room Attendant (RA). The work sucks but we need bucks.
So we endure everything here though they have a bias system.
Abuses: we work 7 days a week WTF we are treated as a machine and our allowance is only half of the regular employee.
Yeah its big if you convert it in to our own currency but hello were here in Singapore the cost of living here is very high and another thing is this 18-month high inflation here so everything is expensive.
So me and my buddies buy cheap food like meatloaf sardines, instant noodle egg all malnutrition food so we can save money. We were living in a dorm so the fridge is centralized and we cant buy frozen products cause they’re stealing it.
Another thing is I ask them if we have leave so we can rest our body a bit.
Guess what we are not entitled they said, were only just a trainee that’s why.. the h3ll with that.
Here’s another fact – regarding our Over Time (OT) the agent promise us that we will receive 100% of our OT payment no deduction *bullsh!t*. We were dying to do OT’s but still they’re deducting it, so I went up to the agency and ask why is it like that you said that we will receive it 100%.
This is what they said – because you are just a trainee…
In the workplace, they expect us to do it perfectly no mistake how about we say we can’t do it perfectly because were just a trainee.?
And were living in a DORM full of Bed Bugs the bed and foams are wrecked. and the budget of our agent for our food allowance is 50sgd what kind of foods can u buy for 50sgd for one month?
This is the real deal.
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I graduated with flying colors bro.. thanks to this OJT. Now I was being offered a job in Singapore with a good compensation…
After our exchange of message, I think you are the one who need to go back to school to learn as it seems you dont know anything but just pretending…. tsk tsk tsk…. take studies seriously bro so that you can learn something… especially to be a better person… para di ka naman kahiya-hiya…. I pity you…
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First thing the government has to look into is who were involved in sending these students to have their OJT in Singapore. This is actually exploitation. OJT is a prerequisite before one graduates. Considering this as an on the job training, this should be done in the country not somewhere else.
To think, they are lucky having this from abroad but on the other hand, asking them to work beyond eight hours is wrong. No need for the senate to look into it. All must be done is find out who was responsible for sending them there as asked them to recall these students.
Drilon has to look into bigger issues such as the OWWA Funds which he said is intact. He said, the money grows by about 2 billion a year. The question is, with this kind of money in OWWA, what are they doing to assist the distress filipino workers abroad? Why has the Government allocated in its budget P27M for assistance while the money of OWWA alone can take care of all the problems of the OFWS communities abroad?
Why sit on our money worth 12 billion as if it belongs to them?
This kind of money is not a joke. OWWA should be audited and I am sure, with the kind of people we have in our government, we will be in for a surprise.
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Editor’s Note: The above has been slightly editted for editorial reasons. If you are a foreign worker and faced exploitative work conditions from your employers, we want to hear from you. Simply email to gilbert@transitioning.org and we will get in touch with you. All correspondences will be treated with strictest confidence.
No one forced you to work in Singapore, if you want to work in certain countries, certain situtions occur. People have the freedom to leave and move on.If you want to get into a certain industry, always do your homework before getting into it. Do not cry and complain when things do not go your way, please remember no one forced you again.
MOM close down this loophole of exploitative behaviour of our hotels.
Otherwise stipulate minimum conditions for this & other OJT schemes.
Shame on you, the rich hotels’ owners!!!
I read from the newspapers (I think it’s the TODAY) that Foxconn also tried to save operating cost by partnering with the local PRC govt to force students to work in the factory under OJT scheme. Exploitation.
Down here, S’pore doesn’t implement minimum wage policy & there are quite a bit of loopholes in our employment act to protect both foreign & local working class.
Even if minimum wage policy is implemented, my next question will be how many dollar for per working hour? I know that Mcdonald only pays $5 for per hour; $850 per month for fulltime staff. That is pretty low.