Twelve Cupcakes staff get vouchers from unions as clock ticks for them to find new jobs

[SINGAPORE] National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and its affiliate Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union (FDAWU) on Tuesday (Nov 4) met the former staff of Twelve Cupcakes to offer financial and career support.

The unions shared a list of companies across sectors that were hiring, and these included food and beverage and retail and hospitality.

At the meeting in the FDAWU Tower on River Valley Road, these union members were given supermarket vouchers ranging from S$150 to S$200 in value, based on their membership tenure. Non-union members did not receive any, an NTUC representative told The Business Times.

With the sudden closure of the bakery chain, its staff are owed their salaries. Union representatives at Tuesday’s meeting also guided the employees on making salary claims and provided details to the liquidators.

Josephine Janopol, a 34-year-old former employee, said: “We are still waiting for (a meeting with) the liquidators on Nov 26 regarding our (salary-related) claims. There is no guarantee, but we are hoping we can (claim back) any amount.”

For the time being, employees have taken to borrowing cash from friends and relatives to pay their rent; others requested extensions on payments, or simply moved out.

“My rent is S$750 per month – for now, I have managed to pay about half that amount (for October),” Janopol, who is on a long-term visit pass, told The Business Times. “But this came from a mix of loans, and cash from things I sold to get by.”

Former outlet manager of Twelve Cupcakes Parmjeet Sharma, 37, said many staff members are selling personal belongings to friends or family members – mainly to cover their rent.

“Many employees have been obtaining the necessary cash by selling gold items or jewellery to pawnshops at the moment,” he said.

SEE ALSO

‘We don’t deserve this’: Twelve Cupcakes staff gather to seek recourse on salaries, CPF contributions

‘Unacceptable and unfair’: Union raps Twelve Cupcakes for abrupt closure, axing of 80 workers

Twelve Cupcakes shutters, bakery chain in provisional liquidation

A significant worry at this point is whether 30 days (for S-Pass holders) or seven days (for work permit holders) are enough for workers to find new jobs.

“This issue is definitely stressful for us all,” Sharma said. “If we don’t find a job within this time, we all have to go back (to our home countries).”

On Nov 21, a spokesperson from the Ministry of Manpower said that arrangements have been made regarding the stay of affected foreign workers who are still in Singapore, to give them time to find new jobs, in response to queries from The Business Times.