SINGAPORE — With the Covid-19 pandemic putting a spotlight on the low value that society places on essential service workers, two Members of Parliament (MPs) called for the Government to restructure the economy in ways that could address this discrepancy.

Mr Zainal Sapari, MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol Group Representation Constituency, and Nominated MP Walter Theseira separately urged the Government to enhance the workplace conditions and wages for workers such as cleaners and security officers, whose manual or service jobs are regarded as essential during the pandemic.

They were in Parliament on Thursday (June 4) debating the Fortitude Budget, the third supplementary national budget for the year to shore up the impact of the Covid-19 crisis.

Mr Zainal, who is also the assistant secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), said that while the crisis is changing people’s attitudes and behaviour towards this group for the better, more needs to be done.

“The services provided by these workers are truly useful and necessary, and the impact will be felt if the work is not done. Unfortunately, in many societies, the more useful the work is, the less they pay you.

“As a society, if we truly value the work of our essential service workers, then it is time for all stakeholders to be bold and embrace change in the new normal,” the two-term MP said.

Most of the work in these industries have an older workforce, limited use of technology and relatively low productivity, and rely heavily on foreign manpower. 

These workers have gross monthly salaries that are at the bottom fifth percentile of the resident workforce, Mr Zainal added.

Salaries of the resident workforce fall under a progressive wage model, which effectively sets the minimum pay for low-wage workers in the cleaning, security and landscape sectors, but it can be improved.

Cleaners and landscape workers are given at least two weeks of bonus under this model, but security officers get none. An annual bonus of one month would increase their wages by 8 per cent each year, Mr Zainal said.

For a start, having an improved model would help attract a younger or more skilful workforce, which is also achievable by leveraging technology and digitalisation to support higher productivity and sustain higher wages, Mr Zainal suggested. 

He added that older workers in these sectors should also be willing to learn new skills. Service buyers should also aim for higher standards in procurement practices, so that contracts are awarded only to companies with progressive employment practices that reward and recognise their workers right.

Associate Professor Theseira, who also noted that these roles are often filled by migrant workers, said: ‘If we recognise that all work, especially socially essential work, has value, then we need to agree that there is no shame in having Singaporeans take up manual and service jobs. 

“The only shame is if we, who have power and influence, fail to ensure that the conditions of work and wages in these service jobs are such that Singaporeans find no dignity in taking them up.”

Focusing his speech on Singapore’s reliance on migrant workers over the years, Assoc Prof Theseira said several commentators have observed that the dependence on foreign labour has hurt efforts to raise productivity in the construction sector. 

Four in five employees in the construction industry are migrant workers, while the rest are Singapore residents in supervisory roles such as project and engineering managers. These managers earn a median wage of around S$3,000 a month, higher than similarly skilled workers in some other sectors, he said.

In other sectors with a high share of foreign labour such as cleaning and landscaping work and food-and-beverage services, median wages are below S$1,500 a month and employment benefits and work conditions can be poor.

Assoc Prof Theseira said that it is the degree of how easily these jobs can be substituted that matters: “We should ask whether this is because migrant labour in these sectors often fill the same types of jobs that locals do, including supervisor positions... Migrant labour in many service sectors could potentially replace local labour, which would then pressure wages and benefits downwards.”

The pandemic has highlighted that it is not safe or resilient to “de-couple” these essential service jobs from those who stay in Singapore, he said, pointing to the closure of the Malaysian border due to its movement control order that has forced workers to choose between their jobs and their families.

On the other hand, he reasoned that having these jobs held by Singaporeans would “offer some resilience against a world where office work can be potentially shifted globally”, rather than an economy where most Singaporeans feel compelled to earn degrees to hold white-collar jobs despite their different skills and talents. 

This way, Singapore could build an economy of skilled and decently paid craftsmen, technicians and service workers, he said.

Referring to the country’s reliance on low-paid essential workers, he added: “Singapore has been able to cope in part because migrant workers and Malaysian day workers are willing to do many of these jobs at wages that are nearly ‘unliveable’ in Singapore. 

“But it is not sustainable to depend on continuing (to pay) the low wages (found) in migrant-worker source countries to excuse us from finding a solution,” Assoc Prof Theseira said.

Both he and Mr Zainal also called for a change on how Singaporeans regard migrant workers in the new normal.

Noting that impending changes in the rules for migrant workers’ accommodation could lead to more of them moving from dormitories to vacated school sites in residential estates, Mr Zainal wondered how residents would feel if these temporary living areas for migrant workers have to remain for a longer period.

“Do we then adopt the perverse attitude of resisting them again because we don’t want them in our backyard? I hope the new normal for our foreign friends will see them being accepted as a fellow human being who has the right to enjoy the surroundings that they helped to maintain and build,” the MP said.