If Hui Fong were Manchester United’s manager, she wouldn’t have
bought Fellaini.
By Jonathan Lim
Singaporeans are generally clueless about unions and the
relationship between unions, employers and employees. Is that a
good or bad thing? No one knows for sure.
Recently, the National Wage Council released its annual wage
guidelines which called for wages to grow in line with productivity
and for employers to give built-in wage increments to employees.
One of the measures the guidelines called for was for employers to
give low-wage workers who were earning up to $1,000 per month a
wage increase of at least $60.
Little attention was paid to the news on NTUC
Secretary-General Lim Swee Say’s announcement that a task force
will be set up to look into the wage guidelines after
several members of the NWC had disagreements with them. This is
about the most exciting union-related news to come out this year.
Just a notch above looking at a snail crawl across the
pavement.
So the Mothership.sg team figured that we needed
to talk to someone on the inside to understand what do unions do to
help employees. We fired random emails at NTUC and NTUC Assistant
Secretary-General Ms Cham Hui Fong actually replied.
1. Labour chief Lim Swee Say said that some firms could not
be persuaded to raise the $1,000 threshold for low-wage workers. A
higher salary threshold (at $1,100 or $1,200) would have meant more
workers qualifying for a minimum pay increase. Share with us some
of the challenges you faced during the wage
negotiations.
It was not easy in 2012 to get employers to agree with this move.
There was even more tension back then as we needed them to see how
wages have not moved for the lower rung. Even the $50 increase was
a protracted negotiation.
Many people commented ‘only $50??’ without knowing how difficult it
was (to negotiate for) as this represented at least a 5% raise for
those earning less than $1,000. For many years, our basic wage
increases was hovering around 3-4%.
In 2012, only 28% of companies in Singapore paid the amount to
their workers earning less than $1,000 per month. Unionised
companies did better with close to 80%. We were disappointed.
In 2013, we tried again and got a higher amount at $60. It got
better as 57% of companies paid that in 2013. The tight labour
market, low unemployment rate and tightening of foreign manpower
were to our advantage.
This year, we noted that the 10th percentile is no longer at $1,000
as in 2012. Hence, we proposed to raise the floor to $1,200 as our
starting position with a view to settle at $1,100 if need be.
Employers were concerned. This year $1,200 next year what figure?
Will we keep going up and raise the expectations of our union
members? They said there will always be a 10th percentile and we
should focus on helping the people earning $1,000 and below to
alleviate them from hardship.
So the question is “how do we define hardship?”
So NTUC said we need to have an agreed framework where 3 parties
agree that the lower 10 or 20 percentile are drawing reasonable
wages. Several suggestions were proposed, we also said if the
Progressive Wage Model is widely in place, skills and productivity
improvements will ensure wage adjustments to be sustainable. As we
did not want to hold up the discussion, we agreed a separate work
group to be formed to look into that.
We do not want to stop at those below $1,000. A compromise this
year was to include a provision for those low wage workers but also
those earning above $1,000 to have equitable adjustment. Based on
feedback from unions last year, companies were sticking closely to
the guidelines. Hence if they pay say 3.5%, those earning $1000
only get $35! We said this is too low and no equity.
2. The National Wages Council (NWC) recommended a pay hike
of at least $60 for workers earning below $1,000 each month. It was
$50 and $60 in 2012 and 2013. Will we see a pay hike of $70
soon?
Moving forward it is premature to say if we will go for $70 or $80
for those earning less than $1000. It is more about how wages move
for the lower wage workers over the years. They are harder hit by
the inflation, so real wage increases for them is critical.
3. Working in NTUC, how do you think Singapore’s unions
fare against other developed nations such as the United
States?
We are grateful for the good tripartism (partnership between the
Government, unions, and employers) we enjoy. That has been a
cornerstone to how we resolve challenges over the years. Mutual
respect and understanding of each party are success factors of how
we arrive at agreements most of the time. That is a key difference
between us and other unions in the world. And I am proud to be part
of this partnership.
4. In a recent Zaobao interview, Labour
Chief Lim said that he would step down as the NTUC’s sec-gen when
he turns 62 in 2016. How has NTUC coped with its plans for
leadership renewal? We noticed the departures of key leaders over
the past few years.
The leadership in NTUC cannot be dependent on one individual. Of
course, the Secretary-General sets the direction and guidance. What
is more important, in my view , is the spirit of tripartism, and
the engagement with our union leaders where we stay connected to
the ground. Union leaders must stay effective, articulate the
concerns of the grounds, speak up for their members, that is the
role of Labour Movement.
5. Singaporeans are generally unfamiliar with the work of
the unions in Singapore. Is that a good or bad thing.
Why?
It does not matter whether public knows what unions do. As long as
our members appreciate what we are doing for them. I guess action
speaks louder than words. What satisfies us is that we have done
something that helped our members. That keeps us going.
6. We noticed you are a Manchester United fan, what do you
think David Moyes could have done to save last season? What went
wrong for him?
Wow, got Man U also!?
On Man U, I can only say that a good manager may not be a good
leader. If he does not gel and appreciate his players, the players
will have no heart or motivation to do their best.
7. If you were their manager, what would you
do?
If I were Man U’s manager I will not buy Fellaini.
Should get a new midfielder and a striker. And don’t keep changing
players. They must get used to playing under a new manager.