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Businesses that are experiencing recovery should roll back cost-saving measures and restore wages to build trust with workers
The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and our affiliated unions continue to support the National Wages Council (NWC) Guidelines for 2020/2021 and its extension to 30 November 2021 with the NWC Addendum. NTUC and its tripartite partners have unanimously agreed that the NWC Guidelines issued on 30 March 2020 and on 16 October 2020 remain relevant today amidst the current economic outlook and continues to provide guidance for businesses and to safeguard workers’ livelihoods.
The Singapore economy is expected to recover in pockets this year with some sectors recovering faster than others. Workers too, remain cautious about their job prospects despite the improvements in unemployment rates since September last year. With the labour market showing signs of improvement, although not fully back to pre-COVID-19 conditions, the tripartite partners had to consider various factors to ensure that there is a balanced approach in the NWC Addendum this year.
Over the past year, workers across all sectors have endured some form of challenges, made many sacrifices, and even bore the brunt of cost recovery measures to help businesses to cope and survive. Today, workers in different sectors have different expectations on their wages depending on how their industry performs. Hence, NTUC had requested for the Addendum to allow employers to re-evaluate their business situations, and how the NWC Guidelines would apply to them.
NTUC strongly encourages businesses which are doing well and have good business prospects to reward employees fairly through variable payments, as well as to bring forward their hiring plans and grant built-in basic wage increases
NTUC had also advocated for the Addendum to take into consideration certain sectors where businesses are recovering at a quicker pace compared to others. For such businesses which are experiencing some form of recovery, employers should restore wage cuts that were implemented earlier, or roll back other cost-saving measures. Employers who have reduced basic wages as an exceptional measure to save jobs should restore basic wages first, followed by the variable wage components. For workers who were impacted by the various cost-cutting measures previously, many of them had accepted their wage cuts in good faith and these wage restorations will be much welcomed and appreciated by our workers.
For businesses that continue to be adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, employers should maximise the use of Government support measures to accelerate business and workforce transformation during this downtime to prepare for a post-pandemic recovery. In the event that all non-wage cost cutting measures have been exhausted, employers should seek their employees’ support to implement temporary wage cuts to minimise retrenchments. For unionised companies, employers should continue to work with their respective unions to negotiate and agree on wage adjustments and other cost-saving measures.
In addition, NTUC encourages all businesses to leverage the resources available at the Labour Movement to accelerate their transformation efforts via the Committee Training Committees (CTCs) and tapping on the Operations & Technology Roadmap (OTR) process. By working with employers and unions, NTUC can help businesses with their transformation journey and support them by systematically developing business strategies and workforce plans so that they are better prepared for a post-pandemic world.
A key part of NTUC’s agenda is the promotion of wage convergence for low-wage workers and NTUC is heartened that our tripartite partners have agreed to continue giving special consideration to our low-wage workers in this Addendum.
a) For businesses which have done well or are on the road to recovery, employers should consider built-in wage increments for low-wage workers.
b) Employers who are implementing wage reductions should implement a wage freeze for low-wage workers instead.
Most importantly, employers should as far as possible, endeavour to pay employees the Annual Wage Supplement (AWS). Recognising workers’ contributions fairly will enable employers to retain talent, inspire loyalty and be well-positioned for the road to recovery. The AWS will also help our workers during this challenging period with their seasonal expenses, and this is especially helpful for our low-wage workers.
NTUC and our affiliated unions stand ready to work closely with our businesses and provide our workers with the necessary support and training assistance to emerge stronger for the road ahead. NTUC looks forward to convening again later this year with our tripartite partners to co-develop the NWC Guidelines for 1 December 2021 to 30 November 2022 when there is more clarity on the economic situation ahead.
Mary Liew
President
National Trades Union Congress
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Quotes from union leaders
Mr Ong Hwee Liang, NTUC Vice-President and General Secretary of the SIA Engineering Company Engineers and Executives Union
“The aviation and aerospace industries continue to be severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with travel bans and restrictions imposed around the world. The severity of the situation has continued to weigh down both sectors. Over the past year, we have witnessed retrenchments and various cost cutting measures implemented, with unions working closely with management to ensure these were done in a fair and responsible manner. We are thankful for the extended support packages, especially the Jobs Support Scheme, rolled out by the Government earlier this year for the aviation and aerospace sectors, which will help save workers’ livelihoods and open up training opportunities during this lull period.
I am heartened that the tripartite guidelines such as the National Wages Council Addendum continue to guide businesses and protect our workers. I urge companies to follow these guidelines as we continue to ride out the pandemic and prepare for recovery. We will continue to work closely with employers to ramp up reskilling and upskilling initiatives where possible, and most importantly, ensure workers’ livelihoods continue to be protected.”
Mr Horson Cheong, President of the Supply Chain Employees’ Union
“COVID-19's impact on the logistics sector has been mixed. For companies which are supporting the growth sectors, business has not been affected much and there was no need to undertake cost-cutting measures. For companies supporting the depressed sectors, demand has taken a hit and workers had to go on no-pay leave or take a temporary wage reduction. Due to Safe Management Measures, many workers also had to adapt to new ways of working to continue supporting their company's operations.
This National Wages Council Addendum is timely as Singapore prepares for the post-COVID-19 recovery. Companies that have been doing well should continue to share gains with workers. For businesses that are picking up, I hope that they too will recognise the sacrifices made by workers in order to support the company through challenging times. I hope that these companies will reward their workers fairly and restore their wages accordingly.”
