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Mr Speaker Sir,
The Labour Movement welcomes the Budget 2021 measures outlined by DPM and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat to help workers emerge stronger from this pandemic.
The extension of Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) in sectors still facing headwinds and the Covid-19 Recovery Grant for severely impacted workers are welcomed by many of our sisters and brothers.
The extension of SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package will continue to support the hiring of 200,000 locals this year and provide up to 35,000 traineeships and training positions.
Together with the extension of the Wage Credit Scheme and the Capability Transfer Programme, these measures ensure that our workers have good jobs and job opportunities.
Over the last one year, NTUC’s key priority was on protecting our workers’ livelihoods. Through our NTUC Job Security Council and the Fair Retrenchment Framework, our Unions have worked with management to cut costs and save jobs, as well as train and redeploy workers to sectors of need.
Many of us in the House will know, that the aviation sector has been severely impacted by the pandemic. At the height of the crisis, Scoot’s parent company, Singapore Airlines, had to cut 96% of its flight capacity.
After Malaysia announced the Movement Control Order to control the spread of COVID-19 in early March last year, many manufacturing companies had a manpower shortage as Malaysian workers who commute daily between Singapore and Malaysia were unable to come to Singapore for work. Many of my brothers and sisters in the manufacturing sector had to put in extra shifts and put in extra hours, overtime, just to keep up with the manpower shortage.
Scoot Staff Union together with another Union, the United Workers of Electronics & Electrical Industries (UWEEI) worked closely with NTUC Job Security Council and our tripartite partners to match some 300 flight crew members from Scoot to jobs in the manufacturing sector. Both unions worked closely with the companies’ human resource team to coordinate virtual job interviews, and continued to keep in touch with these cross-deployed crew members to support their adjustment in the new environment.
With many workers’ jobs at-risk, our unions’ actions helped to secure secondment, contract or part-time positions into other sectors of need. NTUC was able to leverage on our strong labour-management relations built up over many years and our network of partners to make a difference in a dire situation. I salute our workers for their fortitude and resilience and adaptability, and of course, our unions who have worked hard to support them in this time of distress.
This year, as we prepare to vaccinate our population and emerge stronger from this pandemic crisis, NTUC will continue to pay close attention to vulnerable worker groups who are more severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and who may face additional pressures in the new economy.
For today’s Budget Debate, NTUC’s Labour Members of Parliament will be advocating for the various vulnerable worker groups. This is in the DNA of the unions, and also of the PAP Government. We will also lay out NTUC's proposals to better protect and empower these workers in order to strengthen Singapore's social compact.
a. Labour MP Mohd Fahmi Aliman, Nominated MP Brother Abdul Samad and myself; we will share more about NTUC's aspirations and ideas to expand Progressive Wages and Practices to uplift our lower wage workers.
b. With an eye to our ageing and shrinking workforce, NTUC Deputy Secretary-General Brother Heng Chee How will share about what “Emerging Stronger Together” really means for senior workers.
c. NTUC Assistant Sec-Gen Patrick Tay will advocate for boosting the employment and employability of PMEs, especially those in their 40s to 60s, and
d. NTUC Assistant Sec-Gen Desmond Choo will call to strengthen the structure of the gig economy and support for young workers.
e. Labour MP Brother Seah Kian Peng will raise concerns on vulnerable citizens who fall through the cracks.
A second key thrust of our speeches today is on protecting jobs through this pandemic and beyond.
f. I will share our plans for more pervasive business transformation to ensure workers and businesses are future-ready via the Company Training Committees (CTCs) and the Operations & Technology Roadmapping (OTR) process.
g. Brother Melvin Yong will offer insights on how we should respond to the Work-From-Anywhere and the Work-From-Home phenomena developing in our workforce, and
h. And Brother Patrick Tay will also call to strengthen the Singaporean Core while
i. While Labour MP Sister Yeo Wan Ling will advocate for better choices, potential and protection for women in the workplace.
Let me begin with the most vulnerable and disadvantaged segment of our workforce, the Lower Wage Workers.
I will then talk about how the efforts of NTUC’s Training and Transformation Group in Training of our workforce and Transformation of businesses via the CTCs and OTR has been useful in our collective efforts to emerge stronger.
Uplifting wages of lower wage workers is a whole-of-society effort
Mr Speaker Sir, this COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the consciousness of Singaporeans the important roles that essential services workers perform in our daily lives.
Nurses and healthcare workers, are not low wage workers, but they are perhaps the most visible and recognisable of all the frontline workers, performing essential roles during the COVID-19 crisis. As a doctor, as a Political Office Holder in MOH, and as a unionist, I certainly welcome DPM Heng’s announcement in this Budget that the salaries of nurses and support care staff will be enhanced.
Unfortunately, many of our essential workers have incomes at the bottom 20 percent (B20) of all wage earners. Singaporeans questioned the gap between their salaries and their contributions to society. Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) and industry associations that the NTUC have engaged with, agree that lower wage workers should be paid a fair wage.
Consumers have also shared that they are willing to pay more, if lower wage workers can directly benefit though higher wages. At the height of the COVID crisis in June 2020, a survey commissioned by The Sunday Times showed that 8 in 10 Singaporeans are willing to pay up to 10% or 20% more for essential services, if the money goes to the workers. This mirrors two separate surveys commissioned by NTUC in late 2020.
While consumers are willing to pay more for PWM wages, we too need to guard against companies profiteering from these efforts. To do so, I propose that a Tripartite Committee similar to the Committee Against GST Profiteering be formed. This tripartite set-up could investigate allegations of profiteering and ensure that any price increases flow into the hands of our LWWs.
These reflect the desire of Singaporeans for a fairer and more inclusive society that cares about the dignity of those who are less privileged. Building an inclusive and compassionate society is also a key thrust of this year’s Budget. Indeed, Every worker matters, and every little bit of effort counts.
Ensuring that those in the lower wage rungs get a fair wage must be a manifestation of a more inclusive society. There will always be a group at the lower end of the wage ladder that we need to continually support. It is something that we will always have to keep working on.
But starting at the ‘right’ wage level alone is only the first step. If we just stop there, then we run the risk of wage and career stagnation over time. We MUST ensure that there is wage progression. We need to address the following four areas so that our sisters and brothers can start right and progress well in their careers:
j. First, narrow the wage difference between the 20th percentile (P20) earners and the median income or 50th percentile (P50) wage earners;
k. Second, enhance Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) to provide an immediate uplift;
l. Third, expand sectoral PWM faster to cover more sectors;
m. Fourth, implement ‘vocational’ PWM to cover remaining lower wage workers in job roles that are distributed across multiple sectors.
Let me elaborate on each of these four measures.
(1) Narrow the Wage Gap of P20-P50 via Progressive Wage Model
The Labour Movement first championed the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) in 2012 to help all workers across different sectors achieve sustainable real wage increases in tandem with skills upgrading and increased productivity levels. Since then, through the combined efforts of the Tripartite Partners, 80,000 workers in the three mandatory PWM sectors of cleaning, security and landscaping have seen cumulative wage growth of around 30% compared to 24% for workers at the 20th percentile of wages in the last five years. Lift and escalator workers will soon also enjoy mandated annual wage increases from 2022 with this 4th PWM that will become mandatory – I will share more on this later.
Building on the impact brought about by these three mandatory PWMs, I suggest three further enhancements that Tripartite partners can consider:
a. First, include in-house cleaners and security officers in mandatory PWM. Currently, the mandatory PWMs for these sectors apply only to outsourced sectors. Our sisters and brothers working as in-house cleaners and in-house security officers are not included in the PWMs. I propose that they should be included in the mandatory PWMs, so that those doing the same jobs should enjoy the same protection, progression, and wages. This should be implemented as soon as possible because the framework and mechanisms are already there.
b. Second, the wage gap between the P20 and the P50 must be narrowed so that the wage and social stratification will not be too stark and lead to social fragmentation.
i. Today, the P20/P50 ratio is about 0.54, indicating that the P20 salary is only about half that of the median income earner. But 75% of OECD countries have a P20/P50 ratio of 0.67 or better, indicating that the P20 salary is at least 2/3 of the median income earners in these countries, suggesting a narrower wage gap. I can appreciate the different social economic situations and structures in different OECD countries that could account for this observed differences.
ii. But regardless of the reasons, NTUC hopes to see a greater range of salary increases for our LWWs over the next 5-10 years, so that cumulatively, our LWWs can close the wage gap with those earning median wages in these sectors. Our sisters and brothers in the B20, should not become a social underclass. I hope MOM and the Tripartite Workgroup will study this possibility and work on a mechanism to uplift their wages.
c. Third, repurpose the Wage Credit Scheme (WCS) as transitional support for PWM implementation. Recognising that the current economic climate may be challenging for businesses and consumers to bear the costs of the faster rate of wage growth associated with PWM fully, NTUC calls on the Government to consider transitional support measures for companies coming on board the PWM to help with the increased wage costs.
iii. Many SME bosses I spoke to are concerned about the additional wage costs they must bear.
iv. Furthermore, it takes a longer time for outsourced sectors, like the Lift and Escalator sector to implement mandatory PWMs because companies need time for current contracts to run out and renegotiate contract prices based on new wage costs with their clients. This means that workers would have to wait a longer period to get their salaries uplifted.
v. I thus urge the Government to provide transitional support to companies, especially SMEs, who commit to paying PWM wages, to allow such workers to benefit from PWMs earlier rather than later.
vi. The Wage Credit Scheme has been extended in this Budget. I suggest the government further consider repurposing the WCS as a form of transitional wage support to help companies in new sectors implementing mandatory PWMs.
(2) Enhance Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) to provide immediate uplift
While awaiting the wider implementation of the PWM, I hope the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) can also be expanded to provide an immediate uplift.
a. I hope the Government will consider removing the differentiation of the pay-out by age groups and base the WIS eligibility purely on income. E.g., a worker aged 40, earning $1500 a month gets an annual WIS pay-out of $1704. Another worker aged 50, earning the same salary of $1500 a month, gets an annual WIS pay-out of $2496, an additional $792 more than the worker who is 10 years younger. The 40-year old worker is more likely to have younger dependents and would certainly benefit from a higher WIS payout to supplement his take home pay.
b. I hope that every lower wage worker with similar earnings gets an equal uplift regardless of their age, to further strengthen our social compact.
In addition to the above recommendations, I call on the Government to shorten the income assessment period for WIS eligibility. Currently, the recipients must fulfil the WIS’ income ceiling criteria in the preceding 12 months before qualifying. This delays much needed support for lower wage workers. Shortening the income assessment period for Workfare will ensure that we continue to support our lower wage workers in a timely manner, leaving no one behind.
(3) Expand the coverage of PWM to more sectors
Sir in 2018, the Government accepted the recommendations of the Lift and Escalator Sectoral Tripartite Committee (L&E STC) to implement a PWM for this sector. My fellow Labour MP, Brother Melvin Yong, has been leading this effort since 2017. Following a 3-year transition period, Lift technicians will be the 4th group of workers to come under the mandatory PWM framework and will enjoy higher salaries in 2022. Over 2000 lift technicians in this sector will benefit from a more structured career progression and an uplift to their wages.
I recall the story of Brother Dickson Tong, my Union Leader in Metal Industries Workers’ Union (MIWU). Brother Dickson is a senior lift technician with Hitachi Elevator Asia. He remembered being rather fearful after being stuck in a lift when he was just five years old. To his young mind, the lift technician who came to his rescue was like a super-hero. Imagine in a dark lift and the door opens, this lift technician has a halo of light around him, coming from the outside. This has inspired him to join the lift maintenance sector. In the past 20 years as a lift technician, he kept up with the technological advances in his area of work, ensuring that he had the skills to stay relevant. Now with the recommendations of the Lift & Escalator Sectoral Tripartite Committee, Brother Dickson and other lift technicians can look forward to two career progression pathways: supervisory or specialist tracks, where skills are the benchmark for career progression with corresponding salary increases. The implementation of PWM in this sector will hopefully attract more new entrants for a more fulfilling career. And hopefully we’ll have more super-heroes amongst us waiting to rescue anyone who may be stuck.
NTUC wants to speed up the implementation and expansion of PWM into 6 more sectors:
i. Last year, NTUC mooted for a PWM for the Waste Management sector. Since the formation of the TWG-LWW in October 2020, the Tripartite Cluster for Waste Management has been formed in January this year to develop and implement a PWM for this sector.
ii. NTUC has also been pushing for a PWM in the Food Services sector since 2018. In my recent engagement with business owners and members of the Restaurant Association of Singapore (RAS), many expressed support to raising the wages of the LWW and are supportive of the PWM for this sector. We certainly hope to make progress in this aspect over the next 2-3 years.
iii. The tripartite partners also see the potential in the Retail Trade sector. PWMs in food service and retail sectors will benefit a potential pool of about 70,000 workers. NTUC hopes that the Tripartite Clusters for these two sectors will be set up soon, with recommendations released by this year, and implemented within the next 2 - 3 years.
iv. Strata management – While most workers in this sector are technically not low-wage, a PWM for this sector can be an enabler for better progression and better work prospects for them. This is because their wages can remain quite stagnant due to the outsourcing nature of this particular industry. This could potentially benefit more than 5,000 workers in the strata management sector.
v. Pest management – NTUC will begin discussions with the relevant sector agencies on the key milestones for this year to implement a PWM in this sector, which could potentially benefit up to 3,000 workers. NTUC intends to submit our proposal to MOM by mid-2021.
vi. Solar Technology – Following the launch of the industry-led Career Development Plan for the Solar Technology sector in December 2020, NTUC has also started discussions with the relevant associations to develop this Career Development Plan further into a PWM. Again, while this is technically not a low-wage sector, we believe a wage-skills ladder linked to productivity and career progression will be useful for this growing sector.
(4) Vocational PWM to impact more job roles across multiple sectors
During my last Parliamentary speech on the topic of PWM in October 2020, I proposed that beyond a sectoral PWM approach, the Tripartite Partners should also look at a ‘vocational PWM’ for lower wage occupations that cut across multiple sectors to improve their wage prospects.
Expanding the PWM efforts beyond the confines of the sectoral boundaries will allow larger groups of workers such as clerks and logistics drivers to benefit from the PWM to uplift their wages.
The skills framework for these vocations that has already been developed by the Tripartite partners together with SSG can form the basis of a ‘Vocational PWM’ to be developed. This approach should also form a key outcome of the TWG-LWW discussions.
One key tenet of the PWM is sustainability, ensuring that the higher wages are coupled with higher skills and productivity. Training of workers and Transformation of Businesses is key.
Mr Speaker Sir, I will speak in Mandarin regarding NTUC’s plans to actualise more pervasive business transformation to ensure workers and businesses are future-ready.
新加坡全国职工总会（职总）在2019年九月成立了职总培训与转型团队，NTUC Training & Transformation，简称 NTUC T&T。这个专门的团队以工友培训和企业转型为宗旨，协助企业和工会成立企业培训委员会，Company Training Committee （CTC）。此外，职总培训与转型团队协同新加坡科技研究局，A*STAR，一起合作，帮助企业制定商业与科技运作蓝图，Ops-Tech Roadmapping，设下中长期业务策略和工友培训计划，以推动企业的转型。迄今为止，我们已成立了超过600个企业培训委员会，协助了100多家公司制定商业与科技运作蓝图，这其中大约四分之一的公司是中小型企业。
去年，为应对疫情所带来的重重冲击，有越来越多企业意识到转型的重要性。职总培训与转型团队和新加坡科技研究局一起合作推出结合了虚拟和混合式商业与科技运作蓝，Virtual/Hybrid OTR，利用数码技术帮助企业进行转型。目前已经有将近60 家公司通过这种方式顺利的完成了商业与科技运作蓝图。我们预计在未来几个月将会有更多的公司参与我们OTR的工作。
除了和公司合作以外，职总培训与转型团队也会和商会，商团，进行更深入的探讨，研究如何推动行业性的商业与科技运作蓝图，Sectoral OTR。
举个例子，去年十月间，职总与建筑与木业工友联合会（Building Construction And Timber Industries Employees’ Union）和国家环境局，NEA (National Environment Agency)，以及新加坡固废管理及循环协会，Waste Management & Recycling Association of Singapore，它们旗下的17家公司成立联盟，制定行业性的商业与科技运作蓝图，并且促进垃圾管理业尽快落实渐进式薪金模式，让大约3,000名本地工友从中受惠。
完成垃圾管理业的商业与科技运作蓝图之后，职总培训与转型团队会进一步与新加坡固废管理及循环协会旗下的各个公司合作，成立企业培训委员会，根据不同公司的专业需求，转型需求，制定专门的业务计划。
在接下来的两年里，职总培训与转型团队将会与更多的商会，企业集团，和行业机构等合作，携手促进商业与科技运作蓝图的运用。对贯彻渐进式薪金模式较有共识的行业，例如餐饮服务和零售业，我们会借助OTR所带来的推动力加速渐进式薪金模式的推行。让我们并肩合作，共同推动企业转型以及工友们的提升。
Conclusion
Sir, I will now conclude in English.
Mr Speaker, Sir, a mandatory PWM (or for that matter, a mandatory Minimum Wage) will not guarantee employment for the unemployed. Because it is not a mandatory employment law that mandates employment. Upskilling and ensuring our workers have the skills relevant to industry needs is an important aspect of the PWM that ensures employability. The PWM is “Minimum Wage-Plus” because to the Labour Movement, the ‘minimum’ is just not good enough. Why stop at only the minimum? We want to see progression of wages over time through upskilling.
A Progressive Wage is not about charity. A Progressive Wage is about recognising the dignity of our workers through their work. It is about paying a fair wage and ensuring that the wages of those in the bottom 20% keep pace with the rest of society.
The PWM implementation must move faster and wider in line with the aspirations of Singaporeans to build a more just, compassionate and inclusive society where we leave no one behind. Every worker matters.
Together with our Training and Transformation efforts via the CTC and OTR, NTUC wants to make Every Worker a Better Worker, make Every Job a Better Job and to match every Better Worker to the Better Job, so that we can make Every Company a Better Company. Only then, we can Emerge Stronger with a Better Economy and secure three wins all round for the Tripartite Partners and make Singapore a better Singapore for all Singaporeans. Sir, I support the budget.
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