Mr. Speaker,
I would like to thank the Finance Minister for delivering a Budget that is inclusive and far-sighted. This year’s budget is one that sets the foundation for several key challenges that we are facing now and will intensify in the future.
Sir, the influx of foreign workers has led to good economic growth but, it added strains on our social infrastructure such as public transport, roads, schools and this may have caused deep seated grievances amongst some Singaporeans. While these grievances must be heard and addressed, whatever measures the government take to address them must be calibrated and not carry out to extremes to the detriment of our country and economy.
Sir, the Labour Movement is cognizant of the need to calibrate our reliance on foreign labour and the importance of pushing for productivity to form the basis and ensure any wage growth is sustainable in the long-run.
As a labour MP, I welcome the tightening of the foreign workforce and the support given to companies, especially, SMEs to boost their productivity. The policy of tightening foreign labour is thus an important step in redefining our engine of economic growth. SMEs must adapt to this `new’ normal to operate their business. Peter Senge said, “The ability to learn faster than your competitors may be the only sustainable competitive advantage”. The challenges that lie ahead for businesses especially SMEs, which is to increase productivity and send workers for training – will undoubtedly be a more challenging path to take, compared to just hiring foreign labour as a quick-fix solution. SMEs will be affected by these structural changes and 2012 may see SMEs making strong calls to the government to review this policy. I would like to call for the government to resist such calls and to 'bite' the bullet in recalibrating the fabric of our workforce.
While these changes are taking place, there will be many Singaporeans that will be affected as companies restructure especially given the fact that half of our workforce are employed by SMEs. I would like to ask the minister for assurance that the government will provide support to Singaporean workers who are affected by restructuring. At the same time, there will be a time lag as restructuring takes place and there may be shortages of workers in the affected industries. This may affect the level of service, and I hope Singaporeans will be understanding and patient during this period. The key point is that regardless of which policy we adopt, there will be repercussions. Reducing the inflow of foreign workers will hopefully ease social tensions but we will have to manage the other areas that will be impacted by this move.
Sir, the Labour Movement will respond appropriately to this policy of tightening the inflow of foreign workers. We will step up our efforts to push for higher productivity through our Inclusive Growth Programme, Best Sourcing Initiatives, re-training or up-skilling the workers, and encouraging more women and elderly to re-enter the workforce. At the same time, we will work with employers to ensure the road ahead is less thorny. The workers, however, want employers to share their productivity gains with them either in the form of better wages, higher bonuses or better employment benefits.
Sir, Confucius said, "In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of'. I am heartened by the measures announced to help the elderly, the disabled and the low-income families cope with rising costs as we strive to be an inclusive society.
Sir, this is not the first time that the plight of the low -wage workers has been the centre of attention in budget debates. Various initiatives had been implemented in the past; many tripartite and working group committees formed and millions of dollars had been spent to help low wage workers. How did we do? Despite the numerous measures taken, the increasing income disparity is still a concern. While many countries have implemented a minimum wage policy, we have gone against the tide and resisted such move. Instead, we have relied heavily on moral suasion to encourage employers to pay fair wages to the workers and use government social transfers to reduce the income inequality. This year's budget seems to echo the same tune.
Sir, we need to take bolder steps to help low-wage workers earn better wages. While I am not advocating a national minimum wage policy, I would like to call for the various ministries and government agencies to look at their arsenal of policies, and choose the appropriate levers to help low-wage workers earn fair wages and employment terms. A good example is the effort by Ministry of Home Affairs, together with its tripartite partners, leveraging on the security license to improve the security industry that resulted in better wages for the security officers. I support the call by my labour comrade, NMP Ms Mary Liew, for every government ministry to adopt an industry where there are a large number of low wage workers and form a tripartite committee to look into improving their working conditions and wages. I would like to stress again the urgency for this to be done for every day we procrastinate, the longer will be the injustice done to the low-wage workers. Mahatma Gandhi once said, 'Poverty is the worst form of violence.'
Sir, without many of us realizing it, we are underpaying for the cost of many essential services such as cleaning, security and transport, and have caused the salaries earned by these workers remaining low. A typical local Town Council cleaner has to work for 8 hours in a day to clean four HDB blocks to earn $1000 per month. Translated in another way, the cleaner is only paid about $10 dollars to clean one typical HDB block in two hours. If the cleaner is not WSQ trained, he will receive an even lower amount! Moreover, given that more than 65% of our local cleaners are aged 50 and above, many will find it difficult to clean the required number of blocks within the stipulated time and hence, earning less than a $1000 per month. Sir, when I asked my residents how much they expected to be paid to clean the corridors of a HDB block in two hours, they quoted me $50 to $300 dollars which is far from what the cleaners are actually paid. I am not calling for them to be paid this amount, but let us pay them according to the job worth which has been partly depressed by the cheaper foreign labour.
The practice of cheap sourcing has encouraged service providers to push down their prices so that they could put up low bids that will win the tender. This means that as companies cut corners, the salaries of these low wage workers who are essentially the ones who are providing the bulk of the services, are being cut. This gross injustice and slavery of the poor must stop.
Recently, it was announced that the Public Service Division is reviewing the salary for its several thousand junior and mid-level civil servants where a pay rise of between 5 and 15% is expected this month. Other than the need to keep pace with those in the private sector to justify the salary increment, there was no argument for such increase to commensurate with productivity improvements.
Unfortunately, for many low-wage workers, working based on contract outsourced to their companies, any wage adjustments must be justified by productivity improvements. Sir, the reality is that even with training and higher productivity, any potential wage increases would be negated by the business practice of cheap sourcing. As such not many low wage workers will experience wage increments. In a survey conducted by Unit for Contract and Casual worker with a sample size of 400 local cleaners, 75% claimed not to have any wage increment for the last three years. In the same survey, 80% of our locals working the landscape industry shared the same experience as well. The percentage of workers in F&B, logistics and retail ranges from 61% to 69%.
Sir, I am heartened that the government has pledge to take the lead in practicing Best Sourcing instead of cheap sourcing in the civil service sector. I would like to urge the government to do more for these workers in terms of ensuring that these workers get fair wages for their work. I would like to call for the government to do more to ensure Best Sourcing will gain traction in the private sector as well (repeat). We must go beyond moral suasion, advisories and guidelines but, consider making Best Sourcing to be the market norm by making it compulsory for Service Buyers to buy from accredited companies in those industries dominated by low-wage workers. For example, let us make it compulsory for companies to engage only accredited cleaning companies where we could then influence the wages through the accreditation framework.
Sir, the tightening of the supply of foreign labour will force employers to look for other sources of labour like the older workers. The initiatives announced in the Budget also aim to make hiring older workers a more attractive and viable option for employers. However, there are challenges that need to be overcome as some employers may not have the perception that ‘old is gold’ and are reluctant to hire older workers. Sir, reports in the newspapers have shown that companies such as Old Chang Kee and Robinsons, who have been employing older workers for years, see benefits as many of these workers are dedicated and loyal. We must provide not only financial incentives for employers to hire older workers, but the message on ‘old is gold’ must be spread so that employers are aware of the talent pool that they can tap on. It is not only employers’ mindsets that need changing, I feel that more can be done to educate the public to be more tolerant of older workers who are in the service sector and accept that while they may be doing their best, they may not be as fast or nimble as younger workers.
Sir, I am not calling for a tolerance of bad service, for many older workers provide good service, and many are exemplary workers with some even outshining the younger ones! In an article that appeared in the Forum Page of Straits Times yesterday entitled, “Unproductive to stereotype older staff”, the writer debunked the ageist belief in the superiority of the younger worker that some employers may have. She related her own positive personal experience with an older worker in a pest control company, who knew the importance of customer service and also possessed the required knowledge and skills to do the job well.
Sir, in this new norm, let us develop the soft-skills as a nation to build a gracious and tolerant society that respects older workers and regards them as possessing experience and skills that younger less experienced workers may not have.
Sir, allow me to now speak in Malay.
Tuan, langkah-langkah yang diumumkan oleh Menteri Kewangan dalam kenyataan Bajet 2012 amat penting dan haruslah ditinjau dengan teliti. Ia terutamanya akan membawa manfaat kepada pekerja lanjut usia, warga tua secara am, keluarga-keluarga miskin dan mereka yang cacat anggota atau kurang berupaya. Langkah pemerintah untuk mengurangkan pertumbuhan kadar pekerja asing bermakna lebih banyak peluang pekerjaan yang akan tersedia untuk warga Singapura. Sektor-sektor yang terlibat akan mencari jalan untuk memastikan perniagaan mereka tidak terjejas. Kepada rakyat setempat yang menggangur atau berminat untuk menukar pekerjaan, ambillah peluang yang ditawarkan dan laksanakanlah tugas dengan seberapa baik yang termampu. Satu lagi contoh ialah pengumuman pemerintah untuk membelanjakan $1.1 bilion untuk membeli sekitar 550 bas, dan untuk membiayai kos operasi bas. Ini bermakna kerja kosong bagi tugas pemandu bas tentunya akan bertambah.
Namun, sesetengah daripada tugas-tugas ini mungkin tugas yang kurang diminati rakyat setempat kerana waktu kerja yang panjang, sekitaran tempat bertugas yang kurang selesa serta gaji yang rendah. Para pekerja setempat mestilah mengubah cara pemikiran dan cuba menyesuaikan diri dengan tugas-tugas yang terlibat. Beberapa sesi bengkel mengenai peluang-peluang peningkatan kemahiran akan dianjurkan oleh kesatuan sekerja, dan saya ingin menggesa pekerja Melayu agar menyertai bengkel-bengkel ini, agar mereka faham tentang peluang dan tersedia dan sedar mengenaia hak mereka sebagai pekerja.
Terima kasih.
Peter Senge
The ability to learn faster than your competitors may be the only sustainable competitive advantage.
