What are the implications of the Budget 2013 for the Labour Movement? To address this, the Ong Teng Cheong Labour Leadership Institute’s (OTC Institute) held a Singapore Budget 2013 Discussion hosted by NTUC President Diana Chia and NTUC Secretary-General (SG) Lim Swee Say recently.
Union leaders discussed the broader aspects of the Budget and representatives from the Ministry of Finance (MOF) were also there to give a deeper explanation on the Wage Credit Scheme.
During the discussion, Healthcare Services Employees' Union (HSEU) President K. Thanaletchimi raised concerns on how the Wage Credit Scheme would translate into an increase in the salaries for Singaporeans, especially for low-wage workers.
She pointed out that the computation for the Wage Credit Scheme includes additional wages, bonuses and overtime pay. Therefore, the low-wage workers may not see a real increase in their salaries.
On this note, SG Lim said the position of the Labour Movement for rank-and-file workers has always been the ‘70-10-20’ guideline using the flexible wage system.
When aligned with the Wage Credit Scheme, low-wage workers should see an increase in built-in wages too over the next three years. SG Lim added that union leaders have solid grounds to disagree, if companies deviate too much from the `70-10- 20’ wage structure.
He urged companies and unions to work together to negotiate in the best interests of all workers.
Ms Thanaletchimi also asked would older workers suffer a wage cut when they are reemployed after the age of 62. In response, NTUC Deputy Secretary-General Heng Chee How said the Ministry of Manpower has conducted surveys on this issue before the re-employment law commenced in 2012.
DSG Heng noted that the survey results showed the majority of private establishments did not cut the wages of the workers who were re-employed after the age of 62. He added that another survey is being conducted to focus on the period after the law kicked in.
Hence, DSG Heng reasoned that the upcoming results would not be different from the first survey. He also added that the public sector would take reference from the results of the private sector and support the national consensus.
Moving forward, SG Lim also encouraged companies to find ways to redesign the job scope for mature workers upon re-employment. This is in line with the recently announced WorkPro scheme, which will provide more support for older workers and increase the productivity.
SG Lim also cautioned that the Singapore economy will be very different come 2015 and companies that do not adapt will not survive. He advised union leaders to work with the companies to make use of the benefits offered in this year’s Budget.
He said: “If you can make better use of these, it would be good for the Singapore economy, it would be good for businesses but, most importantly, it would be good for workers.”
For the first part of this feature, please check out: Valuing every worker for a better Singapore
