Workers' Party reiterates position on Minimum Wage, avoiding GST hike, public housing and employment insurance ahead of National Day Rally
Ahead of the National Day Rally this coming Sunday (29 Aug), the Workers' Party (WP) has issued a statement to repeat the calls made by the party, both in its manifesto for General Election 2020 and speeches made by its Members of Parliament (MPs) over the past decade.
In a Facebook post on Friday (27 Aug), the party said that it welcomes the recent signals from high-ranking government figures on the Governmentโs openness towards implementing much-needed reforms in key areas of public policy, such as a national minimum wage, redundancy insurance, and anti-discrimination laws.
It highlighted a few policy ideas which it had recently advanced.
The ideas are:
- ๐๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐-๐๐ต๐ฒ-๐ฏ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐บ๐๐บ ๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ that provides a living wage for workers, which can comfortably co-exist with the Progressive Wage Model that could allow for higher sector-specific wage floors and productivity-linked wage increments from that universal minimum level.
- ๐๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ to provide pay-outs for those who are involuntarily unemployed. Had such a scheme been introduced before COVID-19, it would have enabled pay-outs that would have cushioned the shock to the economy and the livelihoods of those laid off due to the economic contraction in 2020, and reduced the amounts drawn from national reserves. WP issued a policy paper in 2016 and moved a Parliamentary Adjournment Motion on this subject in 2017.
- ๐๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ฎ ๐๐ฆ๐ง ๐ต๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ in favour of other approaches to managing revenue shortfall, such as easing the rules to allow for a greater Net Investment Returns Contributionโas had been done beforeโor allowing for a partial contribution from land sales to the Budget, as is already the case for sales of land leases of less than 10 years, which count towards operating revenue for budgetary purposes.
- ๐๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ถ-๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ that prohibit bias in hiring and firing by ethnicity, gender, and age, which will provide greater clarity to job seekers and deter discrimination in the job market by unscrupulous employers.
- ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ผ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด under the Housing Development Board (HDB), to ensure affordability; introducing a universal sale and lease buyback scheme; and promoting urban renewal by expanding the SERS system. WP has issued a policy paper on this subject in 2019.
Just yesterday (26 Aug), National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) made a suggestion to provide more support -- in the form of payouts -- to mature professionals, managers, and executives (PMEs) as long as they can prove that they are actively seeking for a job employment.
It also called for harsher penalties to be imposed on companies that continue to discriminate against PMEs based on their age and nationality.
These two suggestions were made by NTUC, as part of a task force formed by NTUC and the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF), after talking to PMEs about their concerns.
WP said in its statement earlier today that it believes it is opportune to implement these ideas in light of recent public discussions focusing on these areas of policy.
Singapore's Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, will be making his address to the nation this Sunday at Mediacorp.
He will speak in Malay and Mandarin from 6.45pm to 7.15pm, and subsequently in English from 8pm to 9.15pm.
