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Madam. Covid-19 crisis has changed the lives and livelihoods of many workers. Just when we thought we can grapple with it, we are faced with another major setback. The daily local cases shot up, similar to when our migrant workers were impacted last year. This time it is much worse as the clusters are within our local population. Honestly, I believe as fellow Singaporeans, we only have ourselves to blame especially for the KTV cluster. I hope Singaporeans can stay vigilant and report such establishments that flout the safe management measures.
We have had a total of 7 budgeted support schemes to help businesses and workers in affected sectors since the pandemic last year. The Government could only do so much. This latest development must remind each and everyone of us that we have the responsibility, and we have to work together to overcome this crisis.
Madam, prior to my current opportunity as a voice for my fellow Union leaders, members and workers, I didn't really follow through with the Singapore Budget debates. I was just a typical Singaporean that gets on with his job daily and earns his keep. However, this opportunity has opened my eyes to the importance of the budget announcements for our workers and fellow Singaporeans.
I recalled, there was a part of the Ministerial Statement that really heartened me as a Union leader. Minister emphasised the importance of raising the capabilities of our local workforce. In my maiden speech earlier this year, I have called on employers to make our locals their employees of choice. This call by the Minister strengthens the belief and importance of having our locals with the right capabilities and competencies in our workforce.
Madam, many workers have had pay cuts or even lost jobs during this pandemic. Industries such as aerospace, tourism and food services are severely impacted. Some need to transit from one industry to another to ensure that they have some income to tide through this crisis. The Labour Movement has strongly encouraged workers to take advantage of this downtime and go for training in several ways. There has been an increase in training allowance to support self-employed persons. Unions have been pushing for employers to send workers for training before resorting to cost-cutting measures. Union members can also embark on their own training by utilising their Union Training Assistance Programme (UTAP) benefit.
Government assistance schemes such as the Career Support Programme, Professional Conversion Programme and Capability Transfer Programme have helped to train and transform our local workforce. In addition, SG United programmes give employers the financial support to employ our fresh graduates and mid-career workers in times of such uncertainty. Without this, Singaporeans would find it challenging to find employment as businesses freeze or reduce their headcount.
Many of you have heard about NTUC’s Company Training Committees (CTC). This reflects the commitment and collaboration from both Union leaders and management to not just train for the sake of training but, to transform their workforce to be more productive and competitive for new business models. The Union leaders have been focusing on 3 areas for training towards 3 outcomes - the training would be targeted at being adaptable, embracing new technology, and at the same time, deepening technical capabilities. This would make our workers better-skilled, more productive and the Unions will work closely with management to ensure our workers get better wages, better welfare and better work prospects.
For the record, the Labour Movement has achieved more than 600 CTCs across the different industries and these efforts would tie in nicely with the Government’s efforts in the Job Transformations Maps.
Madam, I would like to take this opportunity to share the concerns of my fellow Singaporeans in the finance and banking sector. We have heard enough of FTAs and CECA as a policy. Now let’s hear what some of the workers have experienced on the ground.
One Union leader shared from his personal observation and experience on the disparity in employment contracts between locals and foreigners. He had a disappointing experience of seeing the contracts of his local colleagues not being renewed but foreigners on a contract being offered permanent roles. Another Union leader shared the pain in seeing groups of foreign talents that were hired with capabilities equivalent to our locals. He observed that the HR manager came from the same country as well.
These are just two examples but in reality, there may be many such cases. There has been such feedback raised and we need more affected parties to come forward to report such incidents or observations. While the Fair Consideration Framework is a means for locals to be given fair consideration based on merit, more should be done to respond to such hiring practices that favour foreign talents over our local workforce. I hope that the Government can consider further penalties beyond suspension of work pass privileges for companies that have been found to have repeatedly chosen not to adhere to fair hiring practices. Yesterday, Minister announced the formation of a Tripartite Committee on Workplace Fairness. I welcome this as a step in the right direction and I look forward to the recommendations from the Tripartite Committee.
Madam, this issue about foreigners and locals will not rest anytime soon. I believe that Singaporeans still welcome foreign talents, if they help to elevate our workforce capabilities, complement the development of local talents, and contribute to our Singapore economy. However, the reliance on foreign talents should be mitigated with the available government schemes to help upskill and transform our local workforce to seize these good-paying job opportunities.
I would also take this opportunity to urge my fellow Singaporeans to continue believing in ourselves despite such competition. Go out, acquire new skillsets, compete with the best to seize the jobs you want. Don’t lose heart with rejections and failures. The Labour Movement is here with you, you will never walk alone.
Krisis Covid-19 telah mengubah kehidupan dan mata pencarian ramai pekerja. Ada di antara mereka mengalami potongan gaji dan malah ada yang telah hilang pekerjaan. Secara keseluruhan, Pemerintah telah mengumumkan 7 belanjawan dan skim sokongan untuk membantu perniagaan dan pekerja untuk mengatasi krisis ini.
Dalam pengumuman MOF ini pada 5 Julai lalu, saya tertarik pada bahagian di mana Menteri menekankan kepentingan meningkatkan keupayaan tenaga kerja tempatan kita. Seruan Menteri ini mengukuhkan kepercayaan dan kepentingan di mana penduduk tempatan memiliki keupayaan dan kecekapan yang betul di kalangan tenaga kerja kita
Gerakan Buruh sentiasa menggalakkan pekerja untuk meningkatkan kemahiran mereka dengan kemahiran baru supaya pekerja dapat terus berdaya saing dalam mencari peluang pekerjaan yang lebih baik pulangannya. Malah, sebelum ini juga, Gerakan Buruh telah mendirikan Jawatankuasa Latihan Syarikat. Ini mencerminkan komitmen dan kerjasama dari pihak pemimpin Kesatuan Sekerja dan majikan untuk tidak hanya menjalan latihan semata-mata, tetapi mahu mengubah tenaga kerja mereka agar menjadi lebih produktif dan berdaya saing untuk model perniagaan baru. Pemimpin Kesatuan Sekerja telah memberi tumpuan kepada 3 bidang latihan untuk mencapai 3 hasil - latihan akan disasarkan untuk mudah menyesuaikan diri, menerima teknologi baru, dan pada masa yang sama, mendalamkan keupayaan teknikal. Ini akan menjadikan pekerja kita lebih mahir dan lebih produktif.
Kita semua sedar akan sentimen-sentimen mengenai tenaga kerja dalam sektor kewangan dan perbankan yang melibatkan tenaga warga kerja asing. Isu ini akan terus membayangi kita dan tidak akan reda pada masa terdekat. Saya percaya bahawa rakyat Singapura boleh menerima bakat asing jika mereka dapat membantu meningkatkan keupayaan tenaga kerja kita, melengkapkan pembangunan bakat tempatan, dan menyumbang kepada ekonomi Singapura kita. Namun, sifat bergantung kepada bakat asing harus dikurangkan dengan skim Pemerintah yang sedia ada untuk meningkatkan kemahiran dan mengubah tenaga kerja tempatan kita.Kita juga harus elakkan ketidak seimbangan kontrak pekerjaan antara pekerja tempatan dengan pekerja asing.
Ini sangat sesuai dengan pengumuman Kementerian Tenaga Manusia semalam, tentang pembentukan Jawatankuasa Tiga Pihak mengenai Keadilan Tempat Kerja. Langkah ini amat baik sekali dan menggambarkan usaha Pemerintah untuk memastikan proses pekerjaan yang adil dan telus. Saya mengalu-alukan cadangan daripada Jawatankuasa berikut dalam masa yang ditetapkan.
Madam. On behalf of my fellow Union leaders, I would like to convey our deepest appreciation to all our fellow Singaporeans serving in the healthcare sector for your sacrifices in taking care of the Covid-19 patients. Please press on, all of us will stand shoulder to shoulder in our fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
In conclusion, Unions appreciate the government answering our calls to support our workers and businesses. On this note, I support this move.
