Articles

NTUC: Uplifting Lower-Wage Workers

29 Aug, Sun

NTUC and our unions welcome Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s National Day Rally announcements on topics that are amongst our top concerns and what the Labour Movement has always been working on – from uplifting lower-wage workers, providing security for our vulnerable workers, preparing them for an endemic #COVID19 and ensuring fairness in our society.

As NTUC Singapore celebrates our 60th anniversary this year, we too are innovating and adapting to the changes. There is no perfect solution to the crisis of a generation, however, we must continue to look ahead and look out for our fellow Singaporeans as we navigate the new normal. Government, employers, unions and workers must all work together to grow the Singapore economy, propel ourselves out of COVID-19 and seize new opportunities.

𝐔𝐏𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑-𝐖𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐒 𝐀 𝐖𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐄-𝐎𝐅-𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐓𝐘 𝐄𝐅𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓

As our society progresses, we must ensure that no one is left behind. For our lower-wage workers in particular, our tripartite partners are united in paving the way for them to have better wages, welfare, and work prospects. PM Lee shared some details of what the Tripartite Workgroup on Lower-Wage Workers has decided on to help our lower-wage workers achieve sustainable real wage increases. One of the ways is to expand the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) approach to cover more workers and sectors. This builds on NTUC’s efforts since 2012 when we first outlined our vision for PWM; and supports our earlier calls for faster and wider implementation to cover more sectors and workers.

In addition, the use of the Local Qualifying Salary to raise workers’ wages is significant and it will allow us to uplift the wages of more workers. Singapore has provided much support for our lower-wage workers during the pandemic, but more can be done. Through the PWM and various Government support measures such as the Workfare Income Supplement Scheme, we want to ensure that the support for our lower-wage workers takes a longer term view by continuously advancing their base wages, in tandem with productivity growth, so that their salaries will not stagnate.

𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌 𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅-𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐎𝐘𝐄𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐒

Since 2015, NTUC has been engaging the freelancers and self-employed persons (SEPs) communities through the NTUC Freelancers and Self-Employed Unit. This pool of workers has grown significantly in the last one year with more locals making a transition into gig work. This is a worrying trend for us as some of these SEPs, especially our SEP platform workers, come across as more employee-like and we feel they should be accorded some of the protections and benefits that employees have. NTUC has been actively championing the needs of our SEP platform workers on the ground. We urge platform operators to work together with us to improve work terms and conditions, work safety as well as medical and injury coverage for these employee-like gig workers. At the tripartite level, we are also exploring how we can provide better support for them.

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐍𝐓𝐔𝐂 𝐓𝐎 𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐀𝐓 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐒

Since NTUC’s formation, ensuring that our workers are represented and treated fairly at their workplaces has been our raison d’etre. While we endeavour a Singapore that succeeds for Singaporeans, we are cognisant that Singapore cannot close our doors to foreign workers. At NTUC, we are not just about pushing for legislation to deter errant employers but also about putting in place prevention through education. We can help enhance employers’ current human resource (HR) practices and capabilities so that practices and processes are more transparent. I am heartened that the Government has taken in NTUC’s suggestions to strengthen workplace fairness and accord more power to @tafepsg in dealing with workplace discrimination. This will expand the range of actions TAFEP can take to protect workers. The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified many workplace issues, be it fairness or safety. We urge employers and HR professionals to work with NTUC to raise HR standards through training and the formation of Company Training Committees.

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍

PM’s National Day Rally speech is a timely reminder for all of us. For NTUC, we will continue to work the above-mentioned areas as we pursue our goal of protecting the livelihoods of our workers, and for them to be given a fair chance to perform at work, excel and grow. Ultimately, our workers should benefit from the fruits of the economic success and lead better lives because #everyworkermatters.

Read more at bit.ly/2WsazmX

Post: NTUC Labour Chief, Mr. Ng Chee Meng’s FB page

NEA: Story of Jonathan from Infocus Integrated Engineerin...

19 Aug, Thu

As part of his school project when he was 15 years old, Mr Jonathan Xiao was understudying a cleaner when he unexpectedly found a wallet with $30,000 in it. He returned it to its owner, and received an award for his honesty. The incident sparked his interest to learn more about the Environmental Services (ES) industry, even though it was not a “glamorous one”, and has since evolved into a lifetime passion to improve the work environment and processes in the ES industry. At age 17, he took a step into the ES industry as a cleaner, and today, at age 32, Jonathan is now an Assistant Manager at Infocus Integrated Engineering.

Throughout his career, Jonathan took multiple courses to stay relevant. “It’s not easy to work in the day and study at night, but going through the various courses helped me to understand the issues that my staff face at work, and the standards and expectations of our clients. With this knowledge, I am better equipped to improve and redesign work processes, to ease the physical challenges faced by Infocus’ mature workforce.” Apart from upgrading the company’s manual equipment to an automated version, Jonathan is also exploring robotics and artificial intelligence to further enhance the productivity of Infocus’ workforce. In addition, he shared that small changes can make a huge difference. For example, he introduced longer litter-picking tools to help his workers, so that they don’t have to bend their backs as much to pick litter off the floor. All these efforts have increased the company’s productivity by 30%, and earned the company the “WDA-SMF Productivity and Innovation Gold Award” in 2013.

Jonathan recalled overhearing disparaging comments such as “if you do not study hard, you have to work as a cleaner like this boy”, while working as a cleaner at a hawker centre in his early days in the industry. “The public was not aware that cleaning is a profession that requires deep knowledge and skills. The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly helped the public to recognise the important role that our cleaners play,” Jonathan shared. As an advocate for the ES industry, Jonathan said “The need for cleaning will always be there, and so will the prospects. Personally, I see myself staying in this industry for the long run, and hope to be able to make a difference for workers in the industry.” For more information about the ES industry: http://www.nea.gov.sg/…/environmental-services-industry…

Strait Times: Has productivity increased for the PWM sect...

30 Jun, Wed

“Has productivity increased for the PWM sectors?” is a question that is sometimes raised.

Analysis of data available suggests that in addition to benefiting workers, PWM can help lift productivity.

This article examines the findings.

https://www.todayonline.com/commentary/progressive-wage-model-benefits-workers-but-does-it-lift-productivity-help-businesses

CNA: What would it take to attract younger workers to the...

17 Jun, Thu

Cleaning is a sunrise industry as the demand for cleaning and disinfection services will keep increasing in the new normal. The nature and scope of the cleaning role has also changed through the years with exciting developments in, for example, robotics and technology. Such positive changes are creating interesting opportunities for new and younger talent – Mr Tony Chooi, EMAS.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/…/singapore-cleaning…

NTUC: Recognising Importance and Higher Value of Cleaners...

07 Jun, Mon

𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀’ 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸

The Tripartite Cluster for Cleaners today announced it’s recommendations on the Progressive Wage Model updates for the cleaning industry.

Our cleaners can again look forward to higher base wages, which will progress very year!

Training requirements have also been enhanced to help our cleaners keep pace with industry transformation.

Cleaning businesses must ensure cleaners attain 1 mandatory WSH module + 1 core module by 31 Dec 2022

Number of WSQ training modules cleaners must be trained in will increase from 2025

Six-year schedule of increases to PWM baseline wages from 1 Jul 2023

Together with our Tripartite partners, NTUC remains committed in uplifting our cleaners so that they will have better wages, welfare and work prospects. We will continue to make good progress in pushing to implement the PWM to uplift more sectors and workers, faster!