On November 26, 171 bus drivers of SMRT, Singapore’s second largest
public transport operator, went on strike to fight for higher wages
and better living conditions. The bus drivers are part of a
contingent of 450 workers that SMRT had recruited from China on a
two-year work permit contract.
Bus drivers in Singapore are one of the lowest paid sections of
workers, with a base salary between 1075 and 1600 Singapore dollars
(US$885-1,315) per month and a working week of 44 hours.
With an almost 1
million-strong contingent, foreign workers represent almost one
third of the Singaporean labour force.
They keep the
Singapore economy running, working in low-paid jobs in the service,
construction and manufacturing industries.
With ever rising living costs, these workers are forced to work
overtime to make ends meet, especially when they have to support
their families back home in China.
Income inequality
has increased tremendously over the last two
decades, with Singapore’s Gini coefficient ranging at the level
of 0.473 in 2011. (The Gini scale ranges from 0 to
1, with 0 representing a society where everybody earns equal income
and 1 standing for a society where one person earns all the
income.)
The tax-free
treatment of capital gains and other pro-market policies of the
Singapore government have attracted numerous hedge funds to set up
their headquarters on this island, creating a
society with the world’s highest concentration of
millionaire households (approximately
15.5
percent of all households).
The policy to stimulate economic growth in terms of increase of GDP
has led to a growth of the population from some 3.3 million to 5.3
million within the last 10 years. With a low birth rate, the demand
for additional labour could only be met by enticing workers from
China, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and neighbouring countries of
Southeast Asia to accept timed job contracts offering just a little
more income than they could earn in their home country. Workers are
usually locked away in dormitories, separated from the local
population. Any contact with local Singaporeans is discouraged.
There is an
established system of divide and conquer, with
foreign workers receiving lower pay for the same work compared to
Singaporean workers. Competition with foreign workers is used to
keep the remuneration for the local workforce at a low level.
Employers can save the contributions for Medisave and retirement
when employing foreigners.
With the rising costs of living, doubling of the rental costs for
accommodation and even the property prices of the government-funded
HDB apartments, there has been a growing unhappiness among
Singaporeans.
The frustration of the Chinese bus drivers boiled over when the
SMRT management neglected their complaints and demands for over
half a year.
The main demand of the drivers focused on salary, bonus payments,
working time and accommodation. In 2012, SMRT, which is 54 percent
owned by the state investment firm Temasek Holdings, had raised the
basic pay for Singaporean bus drivers from $1,375 to $1,600
Singapore dollars in two steps, the pay for Malaysian bus drivers
from S$1,200 to S$1,400, and only from S$1,000 to S$1,075 for the
Chinese drivers. While the Malaysian bus drivers receive a 13th
month bonus payment every year, the Chinese bus drivers are paid
only one month’s salary at the end of their two-year contract.
Their demand was to receive at least the same payment as other
foreign workers; they did not question the higher pay for
Singaporean bus drivers. Further, they demanded that their
accommodation be improved, as they have to share one bedroom with
eight to ten persons, bed-to-bed. Some rooms are infested with bed
bugs and other insects. With drivers working in different shifts,
there is little chance for an undisturbed sleep.
SMRT had also
introduced a six-day working week instead of the five-day week,
starting on July 1, without seeking agreement by the
workforce. While the weekly 44 working hours remain
the same and are being spread over six days, the workers miss the
overtime payment that they had received before when working an
extra day.
The National Trade Union Congress (NTUC) had made no effort to
support the Chinese bus drivers. On the weekend of November 24-25,
this situation led to the latter’s decision to take the matter into
their own hands, not knowing about the strict laws in Singapore
regulating any strike.
On Monday morning, November 26, 171 drivers refused to board the
shuttle bus to their SMRT station and put forward their demands.
This led to an immediate outcry of all government institutions
involved in social and work related matters, which reverberated in
the local news media. All hell broke loose, as this was the first
“illegal” strike in Singapore for over 25 years.
Manpower Minister Tan Chuan Jin declared the industrial dispute as
an “illegal strike” that had hurt “industrial harmony”, and that
the government had “zero tolerance for this”. “Taking the law into
your own hands is not acceptable under any circumstances—certainly
especially when it involves essential services”, he said.
During the entire day that Monday, SMRT management put pressure on
the striking workers. Police went into the dormitories to
intimidate the workers by threatening them with the legal
consequences of their action. Medical teams were sent in to verify
if some of the workers were entitled to claim sick leave. A
delegation from the Chinese embassy went in to put additional
pressure on the workers.
Despite all this activity, 88 workers continued their strike on
Tuesday while the others went back to work for fear of losing their
jobs.
Instead of supporting the workers, the NTUC issued a statement that
the strike was illegal and “must and will be dealt with firmly,
regardless of whether the workers are local or foreign”.
Cham Hui Fong, assistant secretary-general of NTUC, said: “It’s
important that they understand that to resolve their issues is not
through striking or not going back to work, but in communicating
with people. If the management is not talking to them, then I think
it’s the role of the workers to make sure management listens to
them”. But that was exactly what the strike was about: “to make
sure management listens to them”.
Paragraph 9 of
the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act in Singapore stipulates
that any workers engaging in an illegal strike “shall be liable on
conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a
term not exceeding 12 months or to both”.
According to this law, workers should notify the management 14 days
before they intend to go on strike and follow other regulations,
which in total would undermine the whole purpose of the strike.
The local online newspaper TODAY reported on November 28: “When
asked if they were worried about losing their jobs, one of the
drivers involved in the strike said: ‘We only resorted to this
because we had no choice. What we are also hoping is for the
company to resolve things in the quickest way’. Another driver, a
33-year-old from Henan province, said they felt that ‘if we didn’t
speak up for ourselves, we could be further disadvantaged in the
future’”.
The intimidating actions from the side of the state authorities and
the local trade union prevented any solidarity between the workers.
The striking bus drivers were standing alone. On Wednesday,
November 28, they went back to work, while SMRT took some cosmetic
action regarding the dormitories, but without giving in to the
salary demands.
The state authorities, however, did not lose time in following
through with the threats they had announced earlier. In order to
set a precedent, they arrested five of the strike leaders, He Jun
Ling, 32, Gao Yue Qiang, 32, Liu Xiangying, 33, Wang Xianjie, 33,
and Bao Feng Shan, 38, and charged them with instigating the
drivers to take part in the strike. He Jun Ling was charged with
the additional offense of making an online post about the strike.
On Monday, December 3, Bao Feng Shan was sentenced to six weeks’
jail for taking part in an illegal strike. The four remaining
strike leaders will most likely face even stronger sentences.
On Saturday, December 1, 29 of the workers were picked up from
their dormitories with their belongings gathered in plastic bags
and brought to the Admiralty West Prison in Woodlands. They had
their work permits revoked and were channeled to Changi Airport on
the following day, shielded from the public by the police and flown
out of Singapore back to China.
The strong reaction by the government signifies
their fear of potential future workers struggles that could
develop, not only among foreign workers, but with the local
workforce as well, given the dependence of the Singaporean economy
on the fragile world market and financial
system.
The Workers Party that had gained a sensational support in the last
national election (See “Singapore election
reflects anti-government groundswell”) demonstrated with a
vague statement that they are anything but a defender of workers’
interests. After complaining that “bus services were disrupted and
commuters suffered inconveniences”, they declared that to express
their grievances, workers must act “within the bounds of the
law”.
Concerning the arrests of workers, they refrained from any comment
as “it would not be appropriate to comment on these specific
cases”, adding, “Our MPs will be asking the government questions on
this issue during the next sitting of parliament”.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/dec2012/sing-d05.shtml
