By Ramesh Subbaraman
It is the time of the year that the tripartite National Wages Council (NWC) comprising leaders from employer bodies, the trade union movement and the Government meet to spell out the annual wage guidelines for Singapore employers.
SG50 Appreciation
NTUC This Week understands from several unionists that one proposal that is on the table for the NWC to deliberate is the possibility of a special SG50 appreciation from employers to their workers.
This is in support workers’ contributions towards the nation’s economic growth and the betterment of workers in the past 50 years.
It is understood that some employers are already doing it in their own way, and unionists hope that the NWC will entrench an SG50 Special Contribution in their recommendations for 2015 to 2016.
Helping Low-Wage Workers
Unionists are also looking forward to more calls to help low-wage workers improve their salary scales.
They add that a quantitative guide like those in previous years would be helpful as they have seen more workers getting higher wage increases as companies adopted NWC guidelines for the past two years.
In 2014, the NWC recommended that employers grant a built-in wage increase of at least $60 for low-wage workers earning a basic monthly salary of up to $1,000.
Unionists also expect the NWC to give a greater push to the slew of SkillsFuture initiatives announced by the Government to entrench lifelong learning in Singapore.
Source: NTUC This Week
