Raj Joshua Thomas
Singapore
“I hope the Minister will consider eventually extending the obligations and penalties under the Bill to buyers of outsourced services. One way, Sir, that we can immediately deal with this would be to issue tripartite guidelines or amend existing guidelines to specifically proscribe such practices by service buyers.”
“I ask this because there are news reports that the deal is already off. But the reason for today’s Bill is precisely because MAS does not have a basis to reject the deal for reasons other than prudential aspects. I would just like to ask the Minister for clarity on the process.”
“Mr Sapari championed and led the implementation of the earlier PWMs and Ms Lim continues to lead the secretariats. It is without exaggeration to say that these two people are probably the two people, in Singapore who have contributed the most to the success of the PWMs, and through the PWMs, the uplifting of the lives and livelihoods of t…”
“Speaker, Sir, I would like to ask the Minister of State how will FWAs interface with the Progressive Wage Model (PWM)? For flexi-load, for example, where a worker in one of these sectors requests to work less days, that may bring his gross wage to below the PWM prescribed wage floor.”
“In this regard, I would like to ask the Minister what efforts MCCY makes and will be making to educate co-op members of their rights under the Act, what they will be doing to educate COM members on their duties, including efforts taken in cooperation with the Singapore National Co-operative Federation.”
“Sir, no, that is not what I was saying. I was, essentially, asking why is it that the Member stopped at a certain point, because in the example that he used, the UK, it was not only Ministers who declared their assets, but all members of parliament had to declare their assets. So, that was the point that I was making.”
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“Sir, if I may take my two cuts together?”
“Sitting on the coffee table at my firm's lobby is a book titled "The Singapore Foreign Service: The First 40 Years". I received this as a young Foreign Service Officer in my first job. I placed it at my lobby so that visitors can peruse it while waiting for their meetings or interviews and in a small way, help to educate people on the important work that our foreign service does. I recall then-Foreign Minister George Yeo, not long after the launch of this book in 2006, saying in this House that our Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) are a "special group of people". And indeed they are. When the pandemic broke, our FSOs played a critical role in providing consular support and comfort to Singaporeans overseas, helping to bring many of them home. As the pandemic grew more widespread, our FSOs remained overseas, many in countries where the pandemic was raging and in which it was unsafe for them to remain. They continue to be there now, protecting and advancing Singapore’s interests. Sir, it is easy to be out of mind when one is out of sight. So, while we are safely cloistered here at home, largely unaffected by the pandemic, let us remember that there are fellow Singaporeans overseas, doing their part at the absolute frontlines of this battle against COVID-19. On this note, I would like to echo Member Henry Kwek in thanking all of our Foreign Service Officers and diplomatic staff overseas for their dedication, courage, loyalty and service to Singapore and Singaporeans. In this connection, Sir, I would like to ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs what are the measures being taken at missions to protect our foreign service officers against COVID-19 and what are the plans for them as regards getting vaccinated against COVID-19?”
“We will see building owners willing and happy to use up precious GFA so that workers can have proper breaks. We will progress towards a fairer, a more equal and a more caring society. And, Sir, we will emerge stronger, together and we will do so at all levels. Sir, I support the Budget. [Applause.]”
“In this regard, I propose, for consideration by MOM and the tripartite partners, that a consolidated Tripartite Advisory be issued for buyers of outsourced services on the provisions they should make in the above four areas. This would incorporate and go beyond the existing advisory on the provision of rest areas. I have thus proposed three measures that build on existing mechanisms and/or positions already announced by the Government: legislation making the provision of rest areas for outsourced workers mandatory; the regularisation of security officer working hours in the security officers PWM; and the promulgation of a consolidated tripartite advisory for buyers of outsourced services. May I also say, Sir, that I support Mr Fahmi Aliman’s proposal that rest areas not be considered as commercial GFA. By my estimates, based on publicly available data, Sir, these measures will apply to, and benefit, around 120,000 workers. At this point, I would like to thank our essential workers and our outsourced workers: our cleaners, security officers, waste collectors and maintenance staff, who continued to work to keep Singapore going during the circuit breaker and who continue to be on the frontlines. Sir, an important part of our social compact has to be a commitment to take care of the people who take care of us. It must become part of our culture. It must become part of our workplace culture. When we have built this, Sir, we will no longer see people looking at a tired worker resting and think that this is something that they should complain about; we will not see rich residents demanding that outsourced workers not be allowed to use their luxurious facilities. In fact, what we will see is them crying foul that workers are only allowed to use a portable toilet.”
“Likewise, security service providers must also take responsibility for their own workers and insist on reasonable working hours and they must also ensure that higher prices that buyers pay translate to higher wages for their employers. In this regard, I call on the tripartite partners to work towards regularising working hours of security officers towards eight to 10- hour shifts. The PWM for the security sector moving forward should incorporate this reduction of shift durations, to make sure that it does not lead to a concomitant drop in officers’ gross wages. Importantly, the Government must take the lead and should move procurement of security manpower services towards eight to 10-shifts. Fourth, buyers should ensure that outsourced workers at their site are required to do only the tasks for which they were deployed and that they are trained for. Often, buyers treat outsourced workers as general workers or odd-job labourers and call on them to carry out tasks that do not fall under their scope of work, for example, cleaners being asked to perform electrical works. The unfortunate incident in 2015 of a security officer falling into an elevator shaft while he was trying to prise the lift doors open is a case in point. This was not something the officer was trained to do, nor was it within his scope of work. He was asked to assist and he was being helpful. Sadly, he succumbed to his injuries. Sir, as is apparent in each of the four areas I have outlined, service buyers are the prime movers in ensuring proper working conditions of outsourced workers. Therefore, in order for us to deal with these longstanding issues, we need to introduce measures that mandate and encourage buyers to make provision for proper work conditions for outsourced workers.”
“If they need more personal time, they would have to cannibalise their sleeping hours. So, all these complaints of security officers sleeping on the job, of course, Sir, they are sleeping because they have not had enough sleep. Sir, when I was running a security agency, I would join my officers from time to time on their 12-hour shifts at site. I would wear the security officer’s uniform, like an undercover boss. Of course, my officers knew who I was – I was undercover not to check on them but to look at the working conditions on the ground. Sir, the job is not easy. It can be exhausting. There are many things to do – from dealing with public enquiries to patrolling, to marshalling traffic and ensuring paperwork is up-to-date and, sometimes, these must be done concurrently. And then there is dealing with difficult members of the public, which I personally encountered while I was on shift with my officers. It is difficult, Sir, to remain focused and alert as a security officer for the entirety of a 12-hour shift. My view is that it is more reasonable to have eight to 10-hour shifts – eight hours for the day shifts, which are generally more busy; and nine to 10 hours for the night shift. This will, of course, translate to higher costs for buyers as it necessitates an additional shift of workers. Buyers have, therefore, been averse to this. However, such long hours on a long-term basis would undoubtedly affect officers’ health – physical, mental and social. We must, therefore, take a stand and do something about it. Buyers must bite the bullet. If they want security, they must be prepared to pay for it and our workers should not suffer to save their costs.”
“The third area is proper rest times and working hours. The work that outsourced workers do can be strenuous, and break times should be planned for in their schedules, during which they should be undisturbed. In an article on outsourced workers by The New Paper in November 2018, an elderly cleaner was quoted as saying that people who saw her resting would complain to her superiors despite that she was resting in between her work slots. In the security association, we receive from time to time complaints about security officers sleeping – only to discover, after investigation, that they were doing so at their designated rest times. And there should be no doubt, Sir, that if it so pleases workers to sleep during their designated break times, they are entitled to do so because it is their personal time. Related to my earlier point on the provision of rest areas, because most building owners do not provide a designated rest area, outsourced workers have to find some nook or cranny to rest, or have to do so at their actual workplace, like the guard rooms, in full view of the public. As regards working hours, I would like to highlight, in particular, the working hours of security officers. The norm is for officers to work 12-hour shifts. Up to the beginning of this year, officers generally would work six-day weeks. From this year, officers have a possible work permutation where they can work two 5-day weeks and two 6-day weeks in a month. So, four days are off. But they still work 12-hour shifts. Taking into consideration roughly two hours of travelling to and fro and eight hours of sleep, officers have around just two hours of personal time per working day with their families and for themselves.”
“This example, is of course, an outlier. When Senior Minister of State Zaqy Mohamed launched the Tripartite Advisory on the Provision of Rest Areas, he did so while visiting Ikea, which provides excellent rest areas for all their workers, that outsourced workers could also avail. Ikea is, unfortunately, also an outlier and the reality at most sites is somewhere in between. Sadly, the norm is nearer to the portable toilet example than the Ikea exemplar. The launch of the Tripartite Advisory on rest areas shows, however, that MOM and the tripartite partners are alive to the issue and have been quite gregarious and proactive to address it. But the advisory is not mandatory. We continue to see cleaners taking their breaks at basement carparks of shopping malls, and resting and eating their meals at bin centres at condominiums, or having no areas to rest at all, or even to place their belongings. I imagine, Sir, that resting, and eating at bin centres or at cooler pump rooms would have an effect on our workers’ health and safety, not to mention their dignity. Senior Minister of State Zaqy announced in Parliament last year that a workfare grant would be launched in 2020 to support building owners and employers to provide rest areas for outsourced workers. I would like to ask MOM, Sir, the status of this grant: how much of it has been given out and how many building owners have availed of it and, if details are available, how many workers have benefited from it? Senior Minister of State Zaqy also said that the grant would be launched with a view to eventually legislating this requirement. Sir, I urge that we hasten the enactment of legislation to make it compulsory for all property owners to provide designated rest areas for their outsourced workers.”
“First is the actual work area of outsourced workers. Workers should not be expected to work for extended periods of time in the sun, for example, or at places that are inherently dangerous without safeguards, like locations at height. Guardrooms should be adequately ventilated. The provision of a proper work area concerns infrastructure and this is, in most cases, the sole preserve of service buyers who are the building owners. Service buyers, therefore, need to do their part to ensure proper work areas in their buildings. Even better, such provision should be made at the design stage of new buildings. Second is the provision of proper rest areas and facilities, including washrooms. In January last year, Sir, I was alerted through the Security Association that at an ultra-luxury condominium along Grange Road had refused to allow outsourced workers to use any toilet in the condominium. The MCST had, instead, installed a portable toilet in a secluded area of the basement carpark for the workers to use. I visited the site myself and I took some photos. The area where the portable toilet was located was not well lighted and abutted a forested area. Even worse, there was no water pumped to the toilet on the weekends. Workers had to scoop water from a dustbin outside the portable toilet to bring in with them, in order to flush the toilet and to wash their hands. This arrangement arose because residents had complained that outsourced workers had dirtied the condominium toilets. As we were in the process of engaging the managing agent and the MCST on this matter, the pandemic set in and the workers were then allowed to use the gym toilet during the circuit breaker. The gym toilet was, in any event, closed during this period. I do not know what the situation is now.”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker. Sir, I am heartened that the Deputy Prime Minister included in this year’s Budget a section titled “Strengthening our Social Compact”. The Deputy Prime Minister shared that many persons who took part in the Emerging Stronger Conversations expressed their wish for a fair, equal and caring society, with more support for vulnerable groups, such as low-wage workers. One particular group of vulnerable workers are outsourced workers like cleaners, security officers, landscape workers and maintenance staff, whom I will be speaking about today, and, in particular, with regard to their working conditions. Incidentally, Member Mr Leon Perera had addressed this as one of his points earlier and he has kind of stolen my thunder a little bit. But I am glad that this is an issue that has raised widespread concern about. Before I go on, Sir, may I declare, my interest as the President of the Security Association Singapore and the Director of a security company. Sir, by way of definition, outsourced workers are workers who are employed by a service provider, for example, a cleaning company, but deployed to a service buyer’s premises, for example a shopping centre or condominium. Under the Workplace Safety and Health Act (or WSHA), a service buyer at whose premises outsourced workers are deployed, is treated as an employer, with all of the duties and responsibilities incumbent on an employer under the Act. In other words, service buyers and service providers share responsibility for outsourced workers at site. However, because outsourced workers do not work at their employer’s premises but that of the service buyers, their conditions of work are determined primarily by service buyers. Service buyers have control over at least four broad areas at their premises.”