Train workers during the downtime
In his Budget Debate speech, NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Patrick Tay urged the Government to speed up the disbursement of the Job Support Scheme (JSS), the SkillsFuture Credit and (SFC) top-up; expand training support for mid-career switchers; restore the Surrogate Employer Programme; raise the absentee payroll and course fee funding for workers.
On the earlier disbursement of the JSS and SFC, Mr Tay said that this is so workers can embark on the relevant training during the downtime period.
Mr Tay also reiterated his call for the Surrogate Employer Programme (SEP) to be restored. During the SARS crises in 2003, the SEP saw NTUC as a surrogate employer and helped many of those affected by the downturn.
The Government can also step in to provide an additional nudge and incentive for employers to send all workers for training and skills upgrading through increasing the absentee payroll and course fee funding, added Mr Tay.
Make Government initiatives and programmes more accessible to SMEs, and address gaps in relief measures.
The Government has announced that Enterprise Singapore (ESG) will launch an Enterprise Transform Package that will support business leaders of 900 SMEs over the next 3 years with training and mentorship.
Labour MP and NTUC FairPrice Group CEO Seah Kian Peng lauded this as a much welcome move. However, he raised the point that there might be language challenges in understanding these measures in English, especially for smaller SMEs.
“I suggest such initiatives and programmes to be translated into Mandarin, Malay and Tamil so that the wider business communities can understand and embark on such initiatives,” said Mr Seah.
He also urged the Government to address some gaps in the Covid-19 relief measures announced in the Budget: “First, ground feedback is that Job Support Scheme to be given out in July 2020 is rather late and does little to help mitigate cash-flow issues. Second, there is no additional Absentee Payroll and training course subsidies for enterprises affected by Covid-19 to send excess manpower for training. Third, there is no foreign worker levy waiver for enterprises affected by Covid-19, especially when foreign workers represent a significant manpower share in the food services and retail sectors.”
Support vulnerable mid-career PMETs
NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Melvin Yong’s speech focused on helping PMETs stay employed, be more employable, and to help workers who are feeling “sandwiched”.
In order to better help vulnerable mid-career PMETs have better job security and boost their employability, Singapore needs a strong ecosystem of job security support, to bring training closer to mid-career PMETs, and to equip the workers with adaptive skills, beyond technical and technology skills, said Mr Yong.
On job security, he said that the new Job Security Council will benefit all workers and will mitigate the increased risk of retrenchments of PMETs.
He also urged the Government to bring forward the disbursement of the SkillsFuture Credit top-ups, from the current 1 October 2020.
Mr Yong said there is a need to bring training closer to PMETs as some courses cannot be done online. Places such as community centres and institutes of higher learning can be used for this purpose.
He added that the Labour Movement will work with its extensive network of professional associations to equip more PMETs with adaptive skills and improve their employment prospects.
Turn a crisis into an opportunity for transformation and training of workers
“While the impact of COVID-19 is most acutely felt in sectors like retail, tourism and hospitality…the manufacturing sector in Singapore is not spared from such impacts,” said Deputy Secretary-General Koh Poh Koon.
He was referring to the manpower squeeze due to the manpower shortage as many Chinese workers are unable to return to Singapore for work
Mr Koh, who is also the Executive Secretary of Metal Industries Workers’ Union, hopes that while support packages have been extended to sectors directly affected by the outbreak, the Government can also pay special attention to sectors that may feel the downstream ripple effects of Covid-19 if the situation is prolonged.
Reminding companies to not forget about the long-term goal of growing and expanding their businesses through deep industry transformation, Mr Koh elaborated that the Labour Movement has been advocating for the formation of Company Training Committees (CTCs) to help drive companies’ transformation, and that to date, 352 companies have formed CTCs across various industry clusters.
He believes that through the CTCs, the unions can work closely with the companies and relevant government agencies to tap on the various support measures and resources to make companies’ transformation and workers’ training a reality.
A step in the right direction in transforming industries and workforce, and taking care of older workers
Labour NMP Arasu Duraisamy applauded the Job Support Scheme, which aims to ensure that workers stay employed by supporting companies to defray wage cost. However, he sought clarification about its short duration.
“What happens, God forbid, if the Covid-19 outbreak stays around longer? Also, companies do need time to adjust even after Covid-19 is over. Will the Government consider extending the support? How do we ensure that the companies that benefited from these subsidies will not let go of their workers after the support ends?” he said.
Mr Arasu also called on the Government to consider reducing foreign workers levies for firms affected by Covid-19, as was the case in the 2003 SARS period.
He appreciated the introduction of the Senior Worker Support Package and expressed hope that companies will follow through.
“The Labour Movement calls on employers to intervene early through career planning customised to individual employee's needs and profiles. The companies can consider re-skilling them in the '40s to achieve better job security and job progression when they retire and seek re-employment in the company,” Mr Arasu said.
More support for vulnerable workers
Expand the Progressive Wage Model (PWM), employment support for persons with disabilities, wider coverage for the Short-Term Relief Fund, fair employment clauses, and providing proper rest areas for workers.
These were the several issues raised by NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Zainal Sapari in his Budget Debate speech.
Mr Zainal urged the Government to support industry stakeholders if they are keen to adopt PWM so that more workers can enjoy better wages, coupled with better skills and increased productivity. He cited that sectors like waste collection and strata management are keen to have a mandatory PWM but would need Government support to implement it.
He also suggested that the tripartite partners do a trial to set industry wage benchmark in the F&B industry where there are around 180,000 workers in diverse roles. Mr Zainal said that industry wage benchmarks can help workers identify a fair wage for their occupation and be more aware of the industry standard to make informed decisions about their careers.
Mr Zainal said the Government needs to consider providing funding support to help employers offset the costs needed to modify infrastructure at workplaces so as to encourage employment of people with disabilities. He also said that various job portals should indicate positions that welcome persons with disabilities.
The Short-Term Relief Fund needs to be extended beyond helping low-wage workers to include those in the double sandwiched class.
To better protect workers, he also urged the Manpower Ministry or the Tripartite Alliace for Dispute Management to start a watch list to look into companies that have unfair clauses in their employment contracts. Administrative penalties should be imposed on companies on this watch list, added Mr Zainal.
On workers’ welfare, Mr Zainal also suggested that the Government offer incentives to urge more building owners to provide rest areas for their outsourced workers.
Helping the self-employed, young workers and women in the workforce
Assistant Secretary-General Desmond Choo hopes that the Government can look into the needs of Self-Employed Persons (SEPs), both in the immediate and longer term.
“Most of the Budget 2020 measures are channelled through companies, and our SEPs would not be helped,” he stated.
He suggested two possible approaches: One, to allow for greater union representation. And two, to classify SEPs, within a limited definition, especially the platform workers, as workers defined by the Employment Act. Both of which he noted are not without their limitations.
He also addressed the need to meet the needs of the younger workforce, as well as the longer-term gender disparity issue.
He hoped the gGvernment is be able to provide a one stop center, and subsidies for younger Singaporeans to explore careers in Asia, especially Southeast Asia.
Pertaining to gender disparity, Mr Choo stated: “…women and men bring different skills and perspectives to the workplace… the financial performance of firms improves with more gender-equal corporate boards.”
He suggested tackling structural issues first, such as how women on maternity are graded at the workplace, as well as normalising flexible working arrangements for them.
Resilience and co-operation in the face of adversity
Addressing Parliament in Mandarin, NTUC Assistant Director-General Ang Hin Kee spoke of resilience and co-operation in the face of adversity.
With reference to the Covid-19 outbreak, Mr Ang stated: “Taxis and private cars usually compete. Fortunately, when the virus hit, the tripartite partners came together to bear the brunt of the crisis together.”
Knowing that the drivers needed to be protected from infection, the National Taxi Association and National Private Hire Vehicles Association went through many channels to buy the necessities, such as disinfectants, to be distributed to the drivers.
Mr Ang also praised coming together of the Government with taxi operators, private hire car (PHC) operators and driver associations to launch a $77 million Point-to-Point Support Package to help taxi and PHC drivers through this difficult period.
In spite of the challenges already faced by drivers, they came forward to volunteer their services to ferry frontline healthcare workers to and from their workplace when they were being shunned by the public.
Mr Ang’s point was that if everyone chooses to support each other in times of crisis, we can survive the difficulties together.
Budget 2020 safeguards the interests and ensures fair treatment of older workers
Against the backdrop of the current economic climate, and Singapore’s growth forecast being revised downwards significantly, workers are concerned over the loss of overtime and other income, wage freezes and cuts, and are increasingly anxious about their jobs.
Older workers feel especially vulnerable in this environment as they are afraid, they may bear the brunt of any industry or company shakeout.
In his speech, NTUC Deputy Secretary-General Heng Chee How thanked the Government for addressing their concerns in this year’s Budget.
“By the sheer number of targeted subsidies and incentives aimed at sustaining and spurring continued hiring of older Singaporean workers in this Budget, the Government’s care for and commitment to our older workers is crystal clear. And our older workers appreciate this.”
With regards to the announcement that the Government is going to double the job placement of professionals via Professional Conversion Programmes (PCPs) through the SkillsFuture Mid-Career Support Package, Mr Heng appealed to “broaden the age criterion to include those up to the current re-employment age ceiling of 67, as they too are at risk of displacement in this economic turmoil.”
