Up to 1,300 workers in the lift and escalator (L&E) maintenance industry can soon expect better wages, bonuses and productivity following the latest set of recommendations by the Tripartite Cluster for Lift & Escalator (TCLE).
The recommendations include the extension of the existing Lift Progressive Wage Model (PWM) to cover escalator maintenance workers; making PWM adoption a mandatory registration requirement for all L&E maintenance firms from 2022; the provision of a mandatory PWM Bonus; the setting of a six-year schedule of wage increase to the sectors’ PWM baseline wages between 2023 to 2028.
The TCLE announced the recommendations on 16 July 2021, and the Government has accepted the recommendations.
The announcement builds on the existing PWM Transitional Wage Benchmark that was agreed upon in 2018, which maps a schedule of wage benchmarks from 2020 to 2022 for L&E firms applying to be listed under the Building and Construction Authority’s (BCA’s) Contractors Registration System ME09 Workhead.
The wage review also takes reference from the Tripartite Workgroup on Lower-Wage Workers’ (TWG-LWW) objective of narrowing the income gap with the average worker.
NTUC Assistant Director-General Zainal Sapari, who is also the Chairman of the TCLE, said that the value of L&E maintenance workers must be recognised as they keep our lifts and escalators, which have become essential to our everyday lives, up and running.
He said: “In line with our continued efforts to uplift and transform the L&E sector and build a strong Singapore Core, I urge all service buyers and providers to support training efforts to improve the skillsets and competencies of workers in this industry for them to have better and sustainable wage increases over time through better productivity.
“This will be a necessary step to help the L&E maintenance workers have better wages, welfare and work prospects.”
NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng said that the PWM was a major step forward for the L&E industry, which will not only help improve the wages of workers, but also their career prospects.
“With the use of enhanced technology, paired up with the workers’ skillsets, what this means is that the workers will have much better work prospects with the PWM in place,” he said.
Senior Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad was supportive of the recommendations but said beyond wages, he hoped to see workers in this area achieve better career progression and pathways.
“We hope that this will attract more ITE and polytechnic graduates to join the sector because in the new few years, you will see a significant ramp-up in terms of basic wages and it will provide more meaningful careers,” he said.
While the TCLE recommends that the PWM be extended to cover escalator maintenance workers, it also agrees to adopt the same career and wage ladder for escalator maintenance workers for clarity of progression and parity between both the L&E roles.
The TCLE also recommends that the skills ladder for escalator maintenance workers be customised to ensure that workers receive the appropriate training.
According to the TCLE, its recommendation of a six-year schedule of wage increases will ensure that wages continue to be in line with skills.
The schedule will see base wages across all job levels increase year-on-year from 2023 to 2028.
Details of the wage adjustments are as follows:
The TCLE also recommended a mandatory annual PWM Bonus, to be paid to eligible resident L&E maintenance workers, with effect from January 2023.
Payable only to workers who have been with their employers for a full year, the PWM Bonus will enable employers to better attract and retain workers and in turn, encourage employers to attract and retain workers.
The TCLE recommends that the total quantum of the PWM Bonus each year be no less than one month of the worker’s prevailing basic monthly wage.
Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) Representative Tony Khoo said that the tripartite partners continue to call on service buyers and providers to adopt outcome-based contracting – adding technology adoption and workers’ training as key considerations in their tender evaluation.
“This way, all stakeholders stand to gain, with a highly competent workforce delivering better service outcomes, more productively and safely,” he said.
