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SINGAPORE – Continuing the debate on the minimum wage, Workers’ Party Chairman Pritam Singh called on Monday (October 12) for a universal minimum wage starting at $ 1,300 per month for workers in Singapore.
In his Facebook post, the opposition leader wrote that such a move “is not just a moral imperative, it is an act of national solidarity, one that is even more relevant in today’s economic environment.”
His comments follow an announcement on Sunday (October 11) that a working group consisting of the government, the union movement and employers will be formed to seek to increase the wages and welfare of low-income workers.
This will include studying how Singapore’s tripartite partners can further expand the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) and partner companies to increase productivity.
Mr Singh noted that the Government’s minimum wage plus approach includes other aspects such as sectoral productivity and career progression, which “cannot be objectionable”.
But the problem with this sectoral approach to the minimum wage is that it takes too long to implement, he said.
“It has been eight years, with three sectors covered. This is too much for Singaporeans who work outside these sectors,” he added.
The PWM, which started in 2012, is a framework where wages are linked to skills, productivity and career development. It now covers about 80,000 workers in the cleaning, security and landscaping sectors.
Singh asked the task force to consider a parallel effort to implement a universal minimum wage with a base of $ 1,300 that is subject to regular review, even as it explores sector improvements “or what is effectively the silver lining of the minimum wage plus.”
He said: “I hope that employers, companies, unions and the Government consider this issue as one that goes far beyond dollars and cents, but as a fundamental basis of our national solidarity.”
The ruling Popular Action Party has rejected calls to implement a minimum wage, including during the debate on the president’s speech last month, when WP MP Jamus Lim mentioned it in a broader speech on compassion in policy making. .
In response, PAP MPs such as the Minister of State for Manpower and Education, Gan Siow Huang, warned that a minimum wage would result in low-wage workers losing their jobs.
Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam noted that the existing PWM and its sectoral approach allow the minimum notch to be set at appropriate levels for each sector, while a single national minimum wage would force a decision on where to place it, which could be too low or too tall.
But he also noted that “he would not exaggerate the differences between the PWM model and the minimum wage model”, calling the PWM model “minimum wage plus”.
In a speech during the debate, Human Resources Minister Josephine Teo noted that over the past five years, workers in the PWM sectors have experienced cumulative wage growth of around 30 percent, compared to 21 percent. percent of workers in the median.
Former MP nominee and Singapore University of Social Sciences economist Walter Theseira told The Straits Times that a universal minimum wage would effectively be a PWM that will cover sectors where prevailing wages are at or close to $ 1,300.
“The questions are: What are those sectors? How many workers are affected? And for those who are significantly below the $ 1,300 floor, what will happen to them?
“For those who are further away (from the floor), there is the possibility of a displacement, which does not mean permanent unemployment. It could mean switching to another job,” he said.
There is a lack of research on the subject in Singapore, as well as detailed data on occupational wage distributions, he added.
“It would be useful to have an idea of how many people are discovered (by the PWM).”
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