By: Leong Sze Hian
Yet another record for Changi AirportĀ
I refer to the article āChangi Airport handled a record 58.7m passengers last year, 5.9% higher than in 2015ā which said,Ā āChangi Airport handled a record 58.7 million passengers last year, 5.9 per cent higher than in 2015.ā
I used to work at the airport in the 1970s and whenever Iām at the airport ā I try to talk to the low wage workers like the airport trolley handlers, baggage handlers, etc.
Progressive wage model plans for aviation industry
In this connection, according to the article āProgressive wage model plans for aviation industryā (Straits Times, May 8, 2014),Ā āsalaries of 240 airport trolley handlers were already increased from about $580 to as much as $1,000″ inĀ August 2013.
We seemed to be soĀ proud of this achievement of having increased the pay of these workers from $580 to ā and I think hereās the catch ā āto as much as $1,000ā³.
So, does it mean that some were still being paid somewhere between $581 to $999? And what about the other about 5,760 outsourced contract workers who were not mentioned along with the 240 trolley workers working under airport operator Changi Airport Group? (see here)
Moreover, the āfrom $580 to as much as $1,000ā ā was also subject to ā ādepending on their work attendance and performanceā (āPay doubled for airport trolley staffā, Straits Times, Aug 16, 2013).
Proud of this achievement or SHAME?
The article added that this rise of about 40 per cent of their wages is part of Ā National Trades Union CongressĀ (NTUC)ās efforts to improve the pay of low-wage out-sourced contract workers (Note ā only 240 workers out of about 6000 out-sourced workers).
We should be ashamed of the fact that after our much touted trade union movement and tripartiteās efforts all these years ā our world class award-winning airport was paying such āslave wagesā ($580) to as I understand it mostly elderly Singaporeans (āThese workers, who are mostly in their 50s to 70sā).
Declining real pay for years?
And if and even when we achieve $1,000 pay for all the airport trolley workers, it may still be in real terms after adjusting for inflation, come to around a 40% decline in pay, compared to about 15 years ago.
It was also said that a progressive wage model will be developed by the end of next year (2015) for six types of jobs (āCurrently (August 2013), about a fifth of 6,000 outsourced contract workers under airport operator Changi Airport Group are on the NTUCās wage scheme (āprogressive wage modelā).
The fundamental flaw of the much touted progressive wage model to address the issue of low wages, may be that most of the workers in the job categories, like cleaners and trolley workersĀ may never be able to progress up the career ladder, improve productivity, etc.
So much has been said about improving the wages for the low income workersĀ over the years by the government. But has there been real progress for them or is it all just arguably, overhyped statements and hot air to fudge the issues caused by our arguably, flawed economic and social policies?
Canāt find āairport trolley handlerā?
In this connection, according to the Ministry of Manpowerās (MOM) wages benchmarking tool ā when I searched āairport trolley handlerā ā the result was āThis occupation is not available for benchmarking, as we will only release data with sufficient coverageā.
Basic median salary $1,000?
When I searched āaircraft loader (e.g. airport baggage/cargo handler)ā, ābaggage handlerā and ācargo handlerā ā the results were ā monthly basic median salary $1,000.
Still only $1,000?
So, does it mean that it may still only be about $1,000 now in 2016 ā almost the same as it was loudly proclaimed in 2013? So much perhaps, arguably, for real āprogressā in our āprogressive wage modelā!