Analysts point to laws that empower employers over migrant workers, who could face job loss and repatriation in any wage dispute
4-MIN READ4-MINJean IauPublished: 5:07pm, 29 Jun 2026A labour saga in Singapore involving migrant workers going unpaid for months after a contractor fled the country has raised questions about wage policies for unskilled staff, even as authorities respond with the speed and efficiency emblematic of the city state.
Last week, hundreds of migrant workers in services such as air-conditioning, plumbing and construction showed up at the Minister of Manpower (MOM) building in a rare labour confrontation in the city state.
On Sunday, Minister of State for Manpower Dinesh Vasu Dash said the employer in question, Ramu Palani Velu, a Singapore permanent resident and director of KPA Engineering, SK Industries and VVR Plant Engineering, had returned to Singapore and was helping with investigations. His passport had been impounded.
Authorities and the labour movement have scrambled to help the more than 400 workers lodge claims, cover their living expenses and find the workers new jobs, with a number of companies offering vacancies.
Laavanya Kathiravelu, associate professor of sociology at Nanyang Technological University, said: “The quick response of MOM authorities should be lauded in this instance.
“However, it should not make us forget that there are systemic problems in the current arrangement that places disproportionate power in the hands of employers.”
Under Singapore law, a migrant worker cannot apply for their own work permit since the entire system is anchored in employer sponsorship, which means bosses are in charge of the work passes for migrant workers who typically ply the construction, shipyard and maintenance trades.
