by Terence Lim
I recently applied to NTUC Fairprice “Fairprice” for a permanent part-time retail assistant role.
From my WhatsApp exchanges (attached) and a conversation with a pleasant lady, I understand that permanent part-timers working for Fairprice will receive the de-facto minimum wage (+ 5¢) announced in the media but this wage includes all other benefits that the worker would otherwise be receiving (refer WhatsApp msg compare with benefits listed for full timers).
When I enquired about this during my conversation with the lady, she said that she will send my feedback for their review, although “a review was just recently completed”. I remember telling her that if the benefits were to be imputed, the pay ought to be more than the 9.75/hr which is only 5¢ more than the minimum wage announced with great fanfare in our media.
I think there are 2 issues here that needs to be addressed.
The first is whether Fairprice has broken any labour regulations with regards to the benefits that part timers ought to receive, given that they are only paid 5¢ more per hour than the wage announced in the media but are not entitled to any benefits.
The second is, NTUC portrays itself as a champion for workers. However the paradox I see is that Fairprice itself, discriminates between the two classes of permanent staff.
I understand from a few people I conversed with that it is a given in Singapore that part-timers do not receive any benefits whatsoever. I find this pretty surprising given the clarity of information on Ministry of Manpower(MOM)’s website with regards to the rights of permanent part time labourers.
This leads one to ask: Does MOM/Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) proactively audit businesses for compliance with labour regulations or does it take a reactive approach?
The last question I have is: what percentage of Fairprice’s retail staff are Singapore citizens (not just locals but citizens). I understand that a major competitor of NTUC hires mainly Malaysians to keep costs low although its boss does wonderful public relation campaigns to maintain his gracious image. Wondering whether NTUC does the same.
Lastly, while i have raised the concerns above, I would like to state for the record that I asked the lady to place me on a wait list for a part time position at an outlet within walking distance from my place. Beggars can’t be choosers although the odds of my landing a job with Fairprice ought to be like that of a camel going through the eye of the needle now.
Ok, really lastly this time, i attach a piece featuring our future PM, Lawrence Wong.
May Labour be free from its bondage to Capital one day.
Thanks for reading this verbose rambling.
This letter was sent to the Minister of Manpower, NTUC and other addressees by Mr Lim last week, TOC was copied in the email. According to Mr Lim, there has been no reply thus far.
