PM Lee's National Day Rally Speech Supports NTUC’s Push to Improving Lives of Vulnerable Workers

The Government will continue to work with NTUC and employers to further improve the lives of lower-wage workers, including self-employed persons such as delivery riders. It will also work towards ensuring fair treatment of all employees at the workplace.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong touched on these issues in his National Day Rally speech on 29 August 2021.

Improving the Lives of Lower-Wage Workers

In his speech, Mr Lee said that the Government is accepting the three strategies proposed by the Tripartite Workgroup on Lower-Wage Workers.

The workgroup consists of representatives from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), NTUC, and Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF).

Expanding the Progressive Wage Model

The first strategy is to extend the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) to more workers beyond those in cleaning, security, landscape, and lift and escalator maintenance.

The model will be extended to the retail sector in 2022, followed by food services and wage management.

“We will cover more sectors, starting with retail next year, and later food services and waste management. We will also cover specific occupations, across all sectors simultaneously, starting with administrative assistants and drivers,” said Mr Lee.

The PWM was first mooted by NTUC in 2012 to raise wages through increased productivity and career progression, rather than implementing a flat, across-the-board minimum wage.

The Labour Movement has also been actively pushing for more workers to be covered under the model over the last nine years.

Tighten the Local Qualifying Salary

In line with the workgroup’s second strategy, the Government will tighten the Local Qualifying Salary (LQS) requirement by having companies who hire foreign workers to pay all their local employees at least $1,400.

Today, companies would have to pay the LQS of $1,400 to only some local employees, depending on the number of foreigners they hire.

For example, if a firm has 20 resident employees and five foreign employees, only 10 resident employees need to be paid the LQS.

Previously known as the Full-Time Equivalent salary, the LQS ensures that local workers are meaningfully employed, rather than on token salaries that allow employers access to foreign manpower.

The extended progressive wages plus the tighter LQS will cover 8 in 10 lower-wage workers, said Mr Lee.

Progressive Wage Mark

The Government will also accept the Progressive Wage (PW) Mark proposal, which is the workgroup’s third strategy.

All companies that make the effort to pay their workers progressive wages will also be accredited with the mark.

The public sector, as a major buyer of goods and services, will take the lead and only purchase from companies who bear the PW Mark.

Workfare Income Supplement

The Government will further support lower-wage workers by increasing the Workfare Income Supplement (Workfare) Scheme amount to amount to $1.1b annually in the next two years. This will allow lower-wage workers receive higher payouts, as well as to have the Workfare Scheme extended to younger lower-wage workers by adjusting the qualifying age to 30 instead of 35.

Currently, the Workfare Scheme costs the Government some $850m a year, and benefits almost half a million workers.

Speaking on behalf of the Labour Movement, NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng said: “As our society progresses, we must ensure that no one is left behind. For our lower-wage workers in particular, our tripartite partners are united in paving the way for them to have better wages, welfare, and work prospects.

“Through the PWM and various Government support measures such as the Workfare Income Supplement Scheme, we want to ensure that the support for our lower-wage workers takes a long-term view by continuously advancing their base wages, in tandem with productivity growth, so that their salaries will not stagnate.”

Delivery Riders

Another segment of workers that both the Prime Minister and NTUC are particularly concerned about are the delivery riders.

“Delivery workers are for all intent and purposes just like employees. The online platforms set the price of their product They determine which jobs are assigned to which workers. They manage how the workers perform, including imposing penalties and suspensions yet delivery workers have no employment contracts with the online platforms,” said Mr Lee.

Mr Lee acknowledged that the work that delivery riders do is hard, while their income is modest.

Delivery riders lack the basic job protection that most employees have, like workplace injury compensation, union representation and employer CPF. The labour chief had also found these concerns true on the ground.

At a walkabout to speak with delivery riders on 26 August 2021, Mr Ng said that NTUC will be working of several proposals with the Government and the delivery companies to see how it can ensure better protection for the riders.

Mr Ng said: “NTUC has been actively championing the needs of our self-employed person platform workers on the ground. We urge platform operators to work together with us to improve work terms and conditions, work safety as well as medical and injury coverage for these employee-like gig workers.”

Ensuring Workplace Fairness

Meanwhile, Mr Lee announced that the Government will look at enshrining Tripartite Alliance for Fair & Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) guidelines into law.

Labour Members of Parliament such as NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Patrick Tay has consistently lobbied for this outcome.

With this in place, the TAFEP will have more teeth to deal with errant employers who choose to engage in discriminatory employment practices, said Mr Lee.

The Government will also continue to gradually tighten the criteria for EP and S Passes to ensure that the local job market will not be saturated with more foreign manpower than necessary for roles that can be filled by the local workforce.

However, Mr Lee assured that the current system is a benefit to Singapore’s local workforce.

“Work pass holders are here to complement our workforce and grow the economy. In good times, this attracts investments, which in turn creates more jobs for locals. In bad times, like last year, the foreign workforce shrinks, and this shields locals from worse job losses,” he explained.

The Government will continue to work to assure that Singaporeans that Employment Pass and S Pass holders are hired truly for their specialised skillsets.

Responding to the announcement, Mr Ng said: “I am heartened that the Government has taken in NTUC’s suggestions to strengthen workplace fairness and accord more power to TAFEP in dealing with workplace discrimination. This will expand the range of actions TAFEP can take to protect workers. The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified many workplace issues, be it fairness or safety. We urge employers and HR professionals to work with NTUC to raise HR standards through training and the formation of Company Training Committees.”