PWM Archives – Singapore Matters

A minimum wage puts a damper on motivation, does not reward skill-upgrading and flatten wages for the most vulnerable workers.

Jobs & Livelihoods

Invisible Heroes: Security Officers are Frontline Workers too!

October 30, 2020December 22, 2020 Natasha Tan

Security officers are frontline workers too keeping us safe. They work long and hard.

Politics

The risk of a political auction in minimum wage is real

October 24, 2020December 21, 2020 Nadhirah A.

The risk of a national minimum wage being politicised is real. It has happened elsewhere in the world and it is happening here now. SDP has jumped in to propose a higher minimum wage.

Politics

How can anyone survive on less than $1300 a month?

October 23, 2020December 21, 2020 Daniel Rui

The simple and straight answer is: you can't. Not even if you earn the minimum of $1300 if you have a family to look after.

$1300 is too low to be of much help in lifting a low-income family.

This is why the Workers' Party's call for a national minimum wage of $1300 is more a political cry than a genuine attempt to uplift workers. It is set at a level that avoids a big reaction from the business community while at the same time, portrays the WP as a party that cares.

The simple and straight answer is: you can't. Not even if you earn the minimum of $1300 if you have a family to look after.

$1300 is too low to be of much help in lifting a low-income family.

PWM incomes for workers without risking job loss

Politics

PWM has uplifted wages for workers without risking job loss, and minimising cost increases for consumers

October 21, 2020December 21, 2020 Audrey Tng

98.3% are already earning more than $1300 a month. PWM will be extended to all sectors.

With the PWM for the Lift and Escalator ready to phase in and the proposal for the Waste Management sector submitted, the number earning less than $1300 will be further reduced.

With sectorial benchmarks for sectors currently without a PWM, what WP wants to achieve with MW is already achieved through PWM, WIS and these other policy measures.

98.3% are already earning more than $1300 a month. PWM will be extended to all sectors. With the PWM for the Lift and Escalator ready to phase in and the proposal for the Waste Mangement sector submitted, the number earning less than $1300 will be further reduced. With sectoral benchmarks for sectors currently without a PWM, what WP wants to achieve with MW is already achieved through PWM, WIS and these other policy measures.

Politics

Legislate $1300 as the minimum and have your pay reduced to $1300

October 20, 2020December 21, 2020 Joshua Teng

If minimum wage is the magic solution, the PAP Government would have implemented it long ago to make themselves very popular.

Opinion

Progressive Wage Model a moral conviction that took in ground work: Raymond Chin

October 19, 2020December 21, 2020 Issac Chua

It took time and hard work to roll out the progressive Wage models. Because for something to work, you have to convince and bring every stakeholder on board. You have to take into account the needs of the industries, the interests of both employers and employees.

All of these require careful considerations and study. It is not like setting a min wage where you decide on what you think is an acceptable wage without due considerations for all other aspects.

Politics

Terry Xu goes on the offensive with NTUC

October 18, 2020December 22, 2020 Audrey Tng

Terry Xu of TOC demonstrates his lack of understanding when he ran down tripartitism in Singapore in an op-ed published 17 October on his disappointment with NTUC.
98.3% of Singaporean workers are already earning more than $1300. So why is WP still calling for a universal minimum wage of $1300, and Terry Xu taking up on their behalf on this call?

Because minimum wage is politics, not economics. It's about a politician's popularity, not workers' welfare.

The politicians decide, BASED ON THEIR OWN OPINION, what they think a worker should earn at the minimum.

Minimum wage is at best, populism at work. At worst, it is a cosmetic change that looks good on the outside but changes nothing on the inside because it does not address the needs of workers or the needs of the industries where they work.