By Christine Leow
The National Trades Union Congress’ (NTUC) e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) organised the Best Sourcing Symposium on 8 January 2014 to encourage service buyers and service providers across these sectors to provide progressive and sustainable wages by embarking on best sourcing and adopting the Progressive Wage Model (PWM).
At the event, Guest-of-Honour, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam announced the government’s endorsement of the PWM to some 300 representatives from unions, companies and government agencies in attendance.
“We will make the Progressive Wage Model a condition of licensing. It will therefore be mandatory for all companies providing cleaning and security services. We will do this first in the cleaning industry where tripartite partners have agreed,” he said.
This means that once passed and implemented, the new law will ensure that cleaners earn at least $1,000 a month as compared to the current median basic monthly wage of $820. Supervisors stand to earn at least $1,600.
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SG Lim welcomed the move, saying: “With licensing of PWM in these key low-wage and outsourcing sectors, we can achieve what the minimum wage system cannot achieve – which is to help our low-wage workers receive more decent starting wages and more importantly, to create a ladder for them to move up in terms of skills, productivity and jobs.
The PWM was introduced in June 2012 by the Labour Movement. The scheme aims to help workers upgrade their skills and improvement productivity through four distinct ladders – Wages, Skills, Productivity, and Career Progression - so that they can earn better wages.
To further aid workers, a new Progressive Wage Incentive (PWI) scheme was also introduced at the symposium. The latest initiative, which is a step up from the Best Sourcing Initiative launched in 2009, will provide funding to support S$50 million worth of contract value for service buyers. These service buyers must best source cleaning, landscape, and security contracts to service providers who adopt the PWM or working models soon to be finalised by the Tripartite Cluster Committees. Through the PWI, service buyers will be able toreceive up to 10 per cent funding of their contract value, capped at a maximum of S$150,000 per project.
The PWI targets to impact some 1,500 local low-wage workers in the cleaning, landscape and security sectors over the next one and a half years.
“NTUC has come a long way in our efforts to champion best sourcing. e2i would like to see a breakthrough in the Cleaning, Landscape and Security sectors for 2014. We would need the support of our tripartite partners, including service buyers and service providers, to see the importance of the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) and how it will benefit both companies and workers. e2i will work closely with service buyers and service providers in these three sectors to level up the industries,” said Mr Gilbert Tan, Chief Executive Officer of e2i.
At the Best Sourcing Symposium, successful adopters of best sourcing like Changi Airport Group (S) Pte Ltd and SMRT Trains Pte Ltd shared how their organisations implemented and benefitted from these practices. One-to-one consultation clinics were made available as well and participants also viewed an exhibition by training and solutions providers.
