As essential and foreign workers continue to play an important role in Singapore’s economy, the Government must continue to ensure their needs are met for the entire country to emerge stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Labour Member of Parliament Fahmi Aliman made the remark in his Budget Debate 2021 speech on 24 February 2021. Mr Fahmi is also the NTUC director of operations and mobilisation division.
On lower-wage workers, Mr Fahmi reiterated NTUC’s call for the Government to raise the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) payout to these workers in the essential services.
“The Labour Movement is sensitive to the concerns of these workers. We are cognisant for example that workers, especially those who earn lower wages are concerned about their cash in hand to meet their daily needs,” said Mr Fahmi.
The raise in the WIS payout would be a way to acknowledge these workers’ social value and the hardship they face at work, he added.
Mr Fahmi also urged service buyers and providers to do their part in providing essential workers with the opportunity to train and upskill. He believes that doing so will allow the country to benefit from a more knowledgeable and professional workforce.
“NTUC is also acutely aware from our interactions with essential service workers that many of them face barriers when it comes to training. This could be due to factors such as time constraints, lack of support from employers, or even language barriers.
“As part of the Tripartite Workgroup, NTUC is committed to finding ways for workers to overcome these barriers and look forward to working with our partners to ensure that any worker who wants to upgrade their skillsets to remain relevant will be able to do easily,” he said.
NTUC is currently looking at expanding the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) to other sectors.
The PWM has successfully uplifted the wages of around 80,000 workers in the cleaning, security and landscape sectors.
Mr Fahmi echoed the parliamentary speech made by his peer, NTUC Deputy Secretary-General Koh Poh Koon, that it is time for workers in other sectors to benefit from the PWM as well.
“Just last month, it was announced that the PWM has been expanded to the Waste Management sector. NTUC had lobbied hard for the expansion into this sector and had engaged the associations and the relevant government bodies to make this happen.
“This is an important step in recognising the efforts of around 3,000 unsung heroes and as the chair of the Tripartite Cluster for Waste Management, I look forward to working with stakeholders to deliberate a PWM for the sector,” he said.
Other sectors Mr Fahmi said could benefit from the PWM include the pest management sector and strata management sector.
“The introduction of a PWM can uplift these sectors and their workers with a clear career progression pathway, coupled with the relevant skills, improved productivity, and commensurate wages. NTUC will continue to lobby for the expansion of the PWM into other sectors and will work with the relevant stakeholders to make this a reality for more workers,” said Mr Fahmi.
For sectors that have implemented the PWM, Mr Fahmi called on all stakeholders to re-evaluate the value of essential service workers’ jobs and thereafter increase the PWM wages so that all Singaporean workers are uplifted.
However, Mr Fahmi said he understood the challenges that come with raising wages. To ease the initial transition, he called on the Government to consider a form of transitional support to help service buyers in the interim as the wages of essential workers are adjusted.
“The reality is that in increasing the wages of our essential workers, consumers may have to pay more for their services. This is never an easy call to make but it is an important step towards a fairer and more enlightened society, where we ensure that all workers can live with dignity,” he explained.
Mr Fahmi also urged service buyers to adopt outcome-based contracts as a complement to PWM.
Besides wages, the welfare of the workers in essential services was also a point Mr Fahmi made in his speech.
He urged the Government to consider giving landlords a waiver for areas that are stipulated as rest areas for workers. This would hopefully encourage more landlords to adopt the Tripartite Advisory on Provision of Rest Areas for Outsourced Workers.
“Outsourced workers should have access to proper and reasonable rest areas for their well-being. Services buyers will also benefit from well-rested workers who would be more productive,” he said.
Mr Fahmi also touched on improving the living conditions of migrant workers.
He called for the Government to consider reviewing the Foreign Employee Dormitories Act to include dormitories that house lesser than 1,000 workers.
FEDA is the Act that regulates the accommodations of foreign workers and ensures dormitory operators comply with a list of requirements that cover the health and safety of residents.
However, the Act currently only applies to larger dormitories that accommodate 1,000 or more workers.
“This move [expanding the scope] would ensure that more or all the foreign workers in Singapore will be housed in accommodations that are regulated and meet the minimal provisions for their health and safety,” said Mr Fahmi.
