“They are treated as prisoners to be transported out for work and then transported back,”
- Alex Au, vice president of Transient Workers Count Too, as cited by the New York Times
Alex Au describes the prison-like conditions of the Singaporean foreign-labor dormitories during the COVID-19 pandemic. Such recent massive outbreaks within the dormitories have not only brought to light the inhumane living conditions of foreign low-income workers but have also brought into light the minimum salary of low-income workers - a topic that is usually kept in the dark, apparently literally.
To tackle such low wages, Singapore has stayed one step ahead of the rest of the world, implementing what is referred to as the minimum wage plus, or the Progressive Wage Model. This model avoids the static salary. Workers start at the bottom of the ladder and with an increase in skill and productivity, they can eventually climb that ladder to a higher salary.
Yet, the vast majority of the labor force, foreign workers, are not benefiting from these efforts. Here, “foreign workers” will be referencing employees being hired on a basic work permit (refer to figure 1). Currently, foreign labor workers have no minimum wage. This means that employers can pay as much or as little as they see fit, creating the perfect circumstances for unskilled workers to be provided with unfair wages. Therefore, to combat such inequality, the Progressive Wage Model should be extended to cover low-wage labor workers in Singapore.
The solution to extend progressive wage coverage to migrant workers would finally subject workers to a humane wage. The progressive wage has been significantly successful at increasing the salaries of low-income workers employed within sectors covered by the model. This can then easily be extended to foreign workers and not only raise salaries but also provide more opportunities to increase the skills of individuals (Min, 2021).
Furthermore, extending progressive wage coverage could make Singapore’s economy more sustainable. During the 1980s, Singapore’s focus on economic growth meant increasing reliance on foreign labor workers. This made Singapore an appealing place to do business due to cheap labor costs. However, such reliance has built an unsustainable platform for Singapore’s economy. In essence, high unskilled labor means low productivity, and ultimately, low wages (Yao, 2020). This has encouraged the Singaporean government to decrease the hiring of low-skill foreign workers, and thereby discouraged them from extending progressive-wage coverage.
However, making low-wage foreign salaries progressive could reduce reliance on foreign labor workers. Rather than increasing the influx of foreign workers, extending progressive-wage coverage could actually decrease Singapore’s reliance on foreign labor. By increasing the salary of foreigners, the incentive companies have to employ foreigners over locals will be removed. By increasing the salary of foreign workers, the cost to hire them will also increase. Currently, the cheaper cost of hiring a foreigner as opposed to a local has motivated companies to employ foreigners, contributing to Singapore’s opposition to an influx of foreign workers (Yao, 2020).
Therefore, by spreading the Progressive Wage Model to foreign workers, both short and long-term benefits are generated: short-term benefits that impact the individual’s quality of life and long-term benefits which shift Singapore’s economy to a more sustainable sector. Singapore can only then protect all people, not just their people.
“We are not asking to be treated like a citizen. Just treat us like you would treat a human being - like we are a part of society.”
- Zakir Hossain Khokan, Bangladeshi Construction Project Coordinator, as cited by BBC News
*Figure 1
Works Cited
Heong, S. K. (2020, August 27). Singapore Employers' Guide to work permits, S pass and employment
pass. DollarsAndSense.sg. Retrieved October 1, 2021, from https://dollarsandsense.sg/singapore-employers-guide-to-work-permits-s-pass-employment-pass/.
Jett, J. (2020, December 17). As Singapore Ventures back out, migrant workers are kept in. The New
York Times. Retrieved September 30, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/17/world/asia/coronavirus-singapore-migrant-workers.html.
Min, C. H. (2021, August 30). Progressive wages to be extended to 8 in 10 lower-wage workers by 2023.
Channel News Asia. Retrieved September 30, 2021, from https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/lower-wage-workers-progressive-wage-model-extended-2144651.
Tan, Y. (2020, September 17). Covid-19 Singapore: A 'pandemic of inequality' exposed. BBC News.
Retrieved October 1, 2021, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-54082861.
Yao, K. J., & Lim, L. (2020, July 25). The economic case for a minimum wage: A conversation with Linda
Lim - Academia: SG. Academia. Retrieved September 30, 2021, from https://www.academia.sg/academic-views/minimum-wage-conversation/.
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