By Shukry Rashid
Training will continue to be the focus of union leaders and the Labour Movement as they push for higher productivity throughout 2018 and into 2019.
This was the sentiment at the union leaders dialogue at NTUC Centre following the release of the recommendations by the National Wages Council (NWC) for 2018/2019 on 31 May 2018.
Training Committees in Companies
With employment and the economic growth recovering in 2017, union leaders were generally contented with the recommendations made by the NWC this year.
NTUC Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) and Director (Tripartism) Melvin Yong called on union leaders to form a training committee in their respective companies, as recommended by NWC, so that workers can learn to take on new and emerging jobs as industries transform along the Industry Transformation Maps.
With the set-up of the committees, ASG Yong said: “Only then can you start to discuss what are the jobs that are at risk in your companies and what are the jobs that may be created. From there, we will try to develop programmes to upskill our workers.”
He added that at the NTUC level, a newly set up training council will help to aggregate unions’ training concerns and help the various sectors.
Assess Each Company, Not the Sector
ASG Yong said that while some sectors are generally doing better in productivity, such as food services, it is best to consider each company’s performance before union leaders negotiate for the implementation of the recommendations.
He explained: “Even in a sector that is doing well in productivity, there are companies that are not doing well. The same goes for companies that are doing well in productivity in sectors that are not doing so well.”
Increase for All
ASG Yong said that many people misinterpret the recommended guidelines as for low-wage workers (LWWs) only.
He said: “The guidelines are for all employees in the company. That will include the PMEs [professionals, managers and executives] as well.”
However, he acknowledged that the recommendations pay special attention to LWWs.
For example, the NWC recommends that employers grant a reasonable wage increase and/or one-off lump sum based on skills and productivity for LWWs earning above $1,300.
This will only be the case when the lowest paid workers in a company are earning about or above $1,300 per month.
ASG Yong explained: “We made sure that those workers at the bottom [percentile], their percentage wage increase is higher than those above them.”
