NTUC Deputy Secretary-General Koh Poh Koon continues to push for the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) to be implemented across more sectors and vocations to help uplift the incomes of lower-wage workers.
During his speech in Parliament on 24 February 2021, he shared several PWM proposals to narrow the median income difference between the 20th and 50th percentile of wage earners and suggested enhancing the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) to provide lower-wage workers with an immediate uplift.
He also shared how the NTUC continues to help train workers and transform companies to meet the demands of the evolving workplace.
Dr Koh said: “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.
He said while consumers are willing to pay more for PWM wages, the Government needs to guard against companies trying to profiteer from these efforts.
As such, he proposed that a Tripartite Committee – like the Committee Against GST Profiteering – be formed. This tripartite set-up could investigate allegations of profiteering to ensure that any price increase is received by worker, and not the employer.
“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 the ‘Better Worker to the Better Job, so that we can make Every Company a Better Company’,” he said.
Dr Koh shared that over the last five years, some 80,000 workers in the three mandatory PWM sectors of cleaning, security and landscaping have seen cumulative wage growth of around 30 per cent, compared to 24 per cent for workers at the 20th percentile of wages.
Building on the impact brought about by the three mandatory PWM, Dr Koh suggested three further enhancements. These include putting in-house cleaners and security officers under the mandatory PWM; narrowing the wage gap between the 20th and 50th percentile of wage earners; repurposing the Wage Credit Scheme (WCS) as transitional support for PWM implementation.
As the mandatory PWM currently only applies to outsourced sectors, Dr Koh proposed that in-house cleaners and security officers be “included in the mandatory PWM so that those doing the same jobs should enjoy the same protection, progression, and wages.”
On narrowing the wage gap between the 20th and 50th percentile, Dr Koh explained it was so that the wage and social stratification will not be too stark – thus leading to social fragmentation.
“NTUC hopes to see a greater range of salary increases for our lower-wage workers over the next five to 10 years so that cumulatively, our lower-wage workers can close the wage gap with those earning median salaries in these sectors. Our sisters and brothers in the bottom 20 percentile should not become a social underclass,” said Dr Koh.
Lastly, on repurposing the WCS, Dr Koh called on the Government to consider transitional support measures for companies coming on board the PWM to help with the increased wage costs.
He explained that the current economic climate may be challenging for both businesses and consumers to fully bear the costs of wage growth associated with the PWM.
While awaiting the wider implementation of the PWM, Dr Koh hoped that WIS can also be expanded to provide an immediate uplift.
“I hope the Government will consider removing the differentiation of the pay-out by age groups and base the WIS eligibility purely on income,” he said.
In addition to the above recommendations, he also called on the Government to shorten the income assessment period for WIS eligibility.
Dr Koh shared that NTUC wants to speed up the implementation and expansion of PWM and that it has identified six more sectors that could benefit from the model.
They are the waste management, food services, retail trade, strata management, pest management and solar technology sectors.
Reiterating his previous Parliamentary speech in October 2020, Dr Koh once again proposed that 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,” he said.
Dr Koh said that the skills framework for these vocations – that have already been developed by the Tripartite partners together with SkillsFuture Singapore – can form the basis for a ‘Vocational PWM’.
