The long-time dream of workers in the private security industry to work on eight-hour work shifts will soon come true.The move away from the traditional and tiring 12-hour work shifts will take another step into further uplifting the industry’s image. This will be another major breakthrough on the cards for the private security business in Singapore this year.
The tripartite commitment to work towards these necessary transformations were echoed on many counts at the Union of Security Employees (USE)’s Tripartite Dialogue held on 1 February 2012 at Orchid Country Club, which also tied in with Lunar New Year celebrations.
Security agency operators and unionists interacted with the tripartite panel made up of Ms Annie Wong, Principal Manager of Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA); Mr Gwee Aik Chiong, Deputy Director of Security Industry Regulatory Department (SIRD); Mr Goh Liang Kwang, Chairman, Productivity Workgroup of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA); Mr Quek Jen Juan, Director, Labour Relations & Workplace Division of Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and USE leaders, President Mr N Silva as well as Executive Secretary Mr Desmond Choo.
The long working hours of 12-hour shifts will soon be faded away and eight-hour shifts will flow into place for employees in the sector. This change in shift patterns will also ensure that employees in the sector take home decent pay packets.
Said Mr Choo: “Moving to a shorter eight-hour work week is essential for sustainable growth in the whole security industry. We have no choice but to change, the security industry has come a long way in terms of wages and in terms of workplace conditions.
“But, in order to make sure the industry continues to grow and bring in new people and cater to a new generation, we do not need them to be working long hours but productive hours. And that is where the eight-hour shift comes in; at the same time, we want to make sure that the pay continues to be at the level that workers will find attractive, even at eight hours. We will be going all out to support this together with tripartite partners.”
Employers who participated in the dialogue session were also of the view that the industry must take this step to bring in younger people, not just into management positions but also to serve as security officers to meet the manpower crunch.
As Chairman of the Workgroup for Security Sector Productivity, Mr Goh that it was necessary for the industry to make this transformation. He explained on the various measures of dealing with the buyers, security agencies and security officers in order to influence several aspects such as wages and working conditions of security officers, outsourcing practices of buyers and image of the security profession.
He shared that there are measures in place, targeted at buyers to leverage on best sourcing initiatives of NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) and getting Government sector buyers to take the lead in responsible outsourcing by adopting price-quality contracting and buying services from better graded security agencies. There are also measures aimed at security agencies and security officers such as enhancing skills competencies through WDA’s training frameworks and improving productivity through use of technology through NTUC’s e2i’s Inclusive Growth Programme and Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA)’s iSPRINT programme targeting at small-and-medium sized enterprises.
He added: “We are working closely with MOM and SIRD of the Singapore Police Force to study ways to improve working conditions and wages through the security agencies’ grading system, policy measures to reduce the prevalence of excessive overtime hours of security officers and tackle the wage structural issues so as to achieve better work life balance for these security officers. With improved wages, better working conditions, and higher standards of security services and professionalism, it is our hope in the medium to long term that the security officer’s job will become attractive as a career and the image of the industry will improve.”
To further lead the race in this pursuit, USE will be organising two buyer awareness seminars in the near future to educate and raise awareness in the industry.
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Time For Another Breakthrough
“I think we are finally seeing a strong momentum now as some companies are already hiring security officers on shorter work shifts. They know that happy workers are productive workers. Moving ahead, we are very confident that this year, with the Government taking the lead, we will be seeing some breakthroughs in this aspect.”
Union of Security Employees Executive Secretary Desmond Choo
A Firm Commitment
“I can confidently say that the public sector is going to take the lead to ensure that we are going to pay for more for the quality services. The various ministries involved are working together on Government procurement guidelines for buyers in the security sector to ensure that there are better terms included in the contract.”
Productivity Workgroup of Ministry of Home Affairs Chairman Goh Liang Kwang
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