Four Chinese bus drivers charged after Singapore strike ends
Four SMRT workers could be jailed or fined if found guilty of being behind illegal stoppage
Four mainland Chinese bus drivers accused of instigating Singapore's first strike since the 1980s were charged yesterday with criminal offences that could land them in prison.
The four men, aged from 32 to 39, were taken to court one day after mainland Chinese drivers at state-linked transport group SMRT ended a two-day work stoppage aimed at securing better pay.
If found guilty of involvement in an illegal strike, they could be jailed for up to a year or fined a maximum of S$2,000 (HK$12,670) - the equivalent of two months' wages for a driver.
The charge sheet stated that the four "did engage in a conspiracy" to "instigate workmen employed by SMRT Buses Ltd" to take part in a strike on Monday and Tuesday. The drivers were remanded in custody for a week.
One of them, He Jun Ling, 32, also faces a second charge for posting a statement on a Chinese website urging drivers to fight for their dignity by refusing to board shuttle buses from their dormitory to a depot.
A total of 171 drivers joined the protest on the first day, with the number falling to 88 on the second. The strikers were contract workers who did not belong to a union and were questioning why they were being paid less than their Malaysian counterparts for the same work.