WORKERS with unionised companies can expect bigger bonuses this
year, in keeping with better bonuses in the public sector,
according to a labour specialist.
National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) director of industrial
relations Cham Hui Fong told The Straits Times that she expected
companies in certain industries to give rank-and-file workers
bonuses of between 0.2 and 0.5 months more than last year.
'The economy is doing better...so the expectations for bonuses will
certainly be higher than last year,' said Miss Cham, whose job
includes negotiating agreements between workers and employers on
wages and wage structures.
' Also, economic growth is usually reflected in public sector
bonuses, and private companies tend to follow the public service,'
she added.
The Government announced yesterday that civil servants would
receive a total bonus of 2.7 months this year, up from 2.15 months
last year.
However, certain companies that had failed to move up the value
chain, like glass manufacturers supplying construction materials,
might even see a drop in their bonuses, Miss Cham said.
Union leaders who spoke to The Straits Times reflected these
varying expectations. Of the 10 unionists interviewed, nine said
they definitely expected an increase in workers' bonuses.
Mr Bobby Tay, general secretary of the Singapore Bank Employees'
Union, said its workers could expect bonuses to exceed last year's
average of 2.25 months. 'Top performers could even expect to get as
much as six months,' he added.
Mrs Cheong-Law Swee Hong, deputy secretary-general of the Singapore
Manual and Mercantile Workers' Union, said a wide variety of
workers in retail, hospitality, medical and manufacturing fields
were expecting bigger bonuses in the light of the revised growth
forecast by the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Ministry officials said on Monday that Singapore's earlier economic
growth estimate of 6.5 to 7.5 per cent was being raised, for the
fourth time in a year, to between 7.5 and 8 per cent.
Singapore Airlines Staff Union general secretary Mohamad Hussain
Kassim was the only unionist interviewed who said workers'
expectations were 'difficult to assess' since growth in the
aviation industry could be 'unpredictable' from year to year.
KEN KWEK
(Straits Times 23 Nov)