Parliament Motion on Inclusive Growth by Mayor Zainudin Nordin on 12 January 2011

While walking along a beach, an elderly gentleman saw someone in the distance, leaning down, picking something up and throwing it into the ocean.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, picking up starfish one by one and tossing each one gently back into the water.

He came closer still and called out, "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"

The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean."

The old man smiled, and said, "I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?"

To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

Upon hearing this, the elderly observer commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"

The young man listened politely. Then he bent down, picked up another starfish, threw it into the back into the ocean past the breaking waves and said, "It made a difference for that one."

According to the latest Singapore Workforce report, the number and share of resident employees on term contracts decreased to 186,300 or 11.5% in 2010 from 197,200 or 12.7% in 2009, reversing the uptrend which started in 2006. However, the number of resident short-term contract employees has increased from 105,200 in 2009 to 108,200 in 2010. These short-term employees work on a fixed-term contract of employment that is under a year, as well as those on casual or on-call employment.

These low-wage contract and casual workers form the lowest, yet increasingly large, stratum of the labor force; and in line with the labor movement’s vision to be an inclusive movement that takes care of working people of all collars, including the no collar workers, UCCW aims to provide protection and welfare to the contract and casual workers enjoyed by workers on permanent positions.

The Unit for Contract & Casual Workers (UCCW) was set up in June 2006 following the call by union leaders at the NTUC Ordinary Delegates’ Conference 2005 to look into helping the workers. The unit hopes to enhance the economic and social well-being of the vulnerable low wage contract and casual workforce. These workers do not enjoy similar workplace benefits as their permanent counterparts.

The unit will address the concerns in different areas such as providing employment advice, Workfare Training Support Scheme (WTS), Workfare Income Supplement (WIS), Employment Intervention Program (EIP) and Personal Achievement Card (PAC). Ultimately, the unit aims to help contract and casual workers to attain permanent employment with better wages by upgrading their employability skills by working with various partners. Where permanent employment is not available as an option, the unit will advocate the application of fair employment terms and other benefits especially in areas of medical, insurance needs and other support program.

If you recall the starfish story that I started this debate with, the UCCW has over 186,000 Starfish out there. While not all of them are stuck on the beach, but whenever a big storm, such as an economic downturn comes by, there are many starfish who get stranded.

Let me tell you about Mr Tay Thiat Hock. He is currently 61 years old, and stopped schooling at Secondary 2. Mr Tay used to work as a casual worker (packer at factory) for 5 years earning an average $500 per month after being retrenched from his previous job. As a casual worker, he received no CPF and no statutory benefits. In May 2009, he found a job to be a school cleaner on contract earning $650. Subsequently, UCCW referred him to Succedo Maintenance Pte Ltd and he was employed as a full-time staff as a cleaner earning $750 in Aug 2010.

Besides completing the Workplace Literacy and Numeracy course (English for Beginners), he has also just completed two WSQ Environmental Cleaning Courses. With another 2 more, he will become a Certified Cleaning Crew. He will receive $800 after collecting the certificate as an award from the company to recognize his better skills and higher productivity in March 2011. As a full-time staff with full CPF benefits, Mr Tay now also enjoys the benefit from WIS. In addition, the company has also decided to pay for him to be a union member with Building Construction and Timber Industries Employees’ Union (BATU).

Just like the starfish that was placed back into the sea, we hope that UCCW has made a difference to Mr Tay.

Let me also speak about the employer, Succedo Maintenance Pte Ltd. In 2008, the company was found to have inconsistencies with CPF payment of the workers. UCCW has stepped in and worked with the company to correct the practice. At the same time, UCCW worked with BATU to unionise the company in 2009. As a result of that, the employees now receive proper employment contracts with stipulated statutory benefits. They also receive Workfare Income Supplement (WIS). The employees are sent for training (Workplace Safety and Heath, WSQ Environmental Cleaning) under “U Train U Gain” and Workfare Training Support Scheme (WTS). The company even pays for the union subscription fee for outstanding workers.

According the company’s Managing Director, being unionised by BATU has shed more light on issues like best sourcing and the tripartite guidelines on fair employment practices. With the help of BATU, the company has access to clear information on industry standards and practices as outlined in the Employment Act. He added that the workers benefit two-fold from this ‘partnership’ by the company, BATU and UCCW. For example, BATU provides added insurance that protects them beyond working hours. This stretches further than the protection from the Work Injury Compensation Act.

UCCW currently handles on average about 10 cases daily, mostly complaints about withheld wages, CPF payments, medical benefits and annual leave. These are employee who are mistreated, and have decided to stand up against their employer. There are many more who do not complain officially, for fear of losing their jobs. Many of these contract workers are illiterate and cannot read their employment contracts. Many are even employed without contracts and are unaware of their own rights.

We know that for every successful case, there are many more which goes undetected. That is why UCCW has been actively reaching out to the community through road shows to raise awareness so that more low-wage contract and casual workers can benefit from the entire range of program. UCCW has undertaken intensive publicity efforts with four-language mail drop flyers in every household, pinned-up posters on the notice boards of every residential flat, and house visits by the grassroots leaders with one-to-one explanation on the road shows. UCCW is trying to make a difference to as many of the workers as possible.

Last year, the UCCW opened the Centre for Contract and Casual Workers (C3W), a one-stop centre for low-wage casual and contract workers in Redhill for them to seek advice on work, job referrals and courses to upgrade their skills. The center is housed in NTUC's Employment and Employability Institute (e2i), to make it easier for the workers to look for job openings at the daily job fairs while undergoing training.

Looking toward the future, UCCW plans to adopt the 4E approach to help vulnerable low wage contract and casual workers. The first E is Engage where workers get to know about UCCW and where to seek help. Once they know about UCCW, we will Educate the workers to understand the importance of Workfare and take advantage of WIS. Workers will also be educated on employment rights. The next step is to Enhance productivity through upgrading their skills and taking advantage of the Workfare Training Support Scheme (WTS). The final stage is Excel where workers become part of inclusive growth and receive better pay.

It has not been a “walk in the park” for UCCW. We face challenges in getting workers to attend the training session due to complacency where some workers are comfortable where they are. Some workers do not realize the benefit of training and would rather spend the time working instead. Furthermore, most workers are comfortable in their vernacular languages but WSQ courses are only conducted in English. We are currently looking at options and solutions to address these issues.

Another hurdle is the fee where workers need to pay 5 to 10 %, and although this does not sound like a lot, it is a significant amount for workers who earn just a couple of hundred a month.

To overcome these challenges, we need to have more workers who were helped by UCCW share their success stories. We need to make the workers and employers see that this is a win-win scenario. Workers win when they improve their skill, become more productive and earn higher wages. Employers win by enhancing their competitiveness and capability.

We strongly believe that productivity-driven growth will deliver sustainable and inclusive economic development. Investment in human capital is critical for economies to capitalize on the next wave of growth and ensure continued creation of employment opportunities for our people. We need to continue our focus on economic growth and development to raise incomes and standards of living of everyone. No one should be left out.

In line with that, the UCCW must continue to support the aim for inclusive growth, be relevant and be able to make a difference, even if it is just to one person, just like the young man who saves the lone starfish. Of course we know that is not enough.

That is why sir, we want to do more and widen our reach to more sectors that employ a large number of contract and casual workers like the F&B and logistics sector. With these new efforts we aim to reach out to more than 18,000 contract and casual workers and train more than 2000 workers for them to be able to benefit and grow with the growing economy.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.