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Labour chief fail to keep wage rise abreast of inflation

freedalas

Alfrescian
Loyal
If the workers want higher wages, upgrade or be more productive.
Thats all.

The lower income workers are already at a productive level that is higher than the wages they are getting now. So don't come here to try to chant the PAP bullshit mantra that has been overused for decades simply these bloody idiots have no ideas to solve the problem. And there's where Lim Chong Ya latest salvo comes in.
 

Kinana

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Loyal
The lower income workers are already at a productive level that is higher than the wages they are getting now. So don't come here to try to chant the PAP bullshit mantra that has been overused for decades simply these bloody idiots have no ideas to solve the problem. And there's where Lim Chong Ya latest salvo comes in.

What is the proof of your claim?
The market cannot be fooled bro. You really think the market can underpay them?
 

rusty

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
If the workers want higher wages, upgrade or be more productive.
Thats all.

If you can tell me how to upgrade a table cleaner and a dish washer, I let you suck my cock and I promise to keep it secret.
 

Fook Seng

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
zhihau said:
ooo... thanks for the correction, bro :o:o:o

looks like we've gone from the third world to the first world and back? :eek::eek::eek:

Cannot be helped. The face of the population looks third world.
 

kingrant

Alfrescian
Loyal
Spot on. It's easier for the labour chief not to rock the boat but be the mouthpiece of the exploitative bosses and private businesses. It is also easier for the govt to press down workers than to press down businesses esp the foregin ones.

I tell you, our NTUC movement and the PAP have sold out the workers since day one when they got into bed together under the guise of tripartitism.

The lower income workers are already at a productive level that is higher than the wages they are getting now. So don't come here to try to chant the PAP bullshit mantra that has been overused for decades simply these bloody idiots have no ideas to solve the problem. And there's where Lim Chong Ya latest salvo comes in.
 

Kinana

Alfrescian
Loyal
With this tripartite, we made Singapore grow prosperous to what it is, full employment.

Unfortunately, PAP cannot make Singaporeans not greedy for more and not jealous of others who have more.
 

rusty

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
Its simple, upgrade and get a better paying job.
Now suck.

Whaa...you appeared in a hurry to suck my cock with this simple answer. Never mind, I let you lick my balls first and what's your preference?Do it with your eyes close or open?

I'll let you suck my dick when you tell me who fill up the table cleaning and dish washing vacancies after all the thousands of unties and uncles have upgraded to supervisors.
 

theDoors

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Title : Middle class wage stagnation could lead to social instability
By :
Date : 11 January 2007 1856 hrs (SST)
URL : Middle class wage stagnation could lead to social instability - Channel NewsAsia


SINGAPORE: Middle class wages have been stagnant in the past 5 years, according to economists, and this could lead to social instability.

These concerns were shared by economists at the annual Institute of Policy Studies Singapore Perspectives conference, who also added that the government is taking steps to address the problem.

Economists believe a US economic slowdown in business and consumer spending may cause problems for Singapore, but as Singapore is tops in the ASEAN resilience index, it should be able to weather external shocks, thanks to a diversified economy and strong Asian demand.

They predict that growth going forward will be above 3 to 5 percent.

The long-term growth limits for a mature economy was previously in the 3 to 5 percent range.

However, economists are asking who this growth is for. The income of the bottom 30 percent of the population has fallen. What is more worrying is the fact that the majority of Singaporeans in the middle class has only seen about a one percent increase in their nominal income in the last 5 years.

This is not not just a Singapore problem say economists who point out that stagnant wages is a global problem.

The chief reason for this is globalisation, especially with India and China introducing a large pool of skilled and unskilled labour to compete with the labour forces of industrialised countries.

Singapore is susceptible to this because of its open economy.

Manpower Ministry data shows that 124,000 jobs were created last year and 45 percent of these jobs went to foreigners.

"With the rate of immigration, even among unskilled and semi skilled labour at a rate twice of what we experienced in the 90s, at a rate fastest in the developed world, the question is - does this dampen our real wages as we grow? Does the strategy itself dampen real wages and depress real wages at the low and middle end of the spectrums? They are sacred cows but we should step back and think about them," said Yeoh Lam Keong, Vice President, Economic Society of Singapore.

Another reason cited for middle class wage stagnation is the move by the government to cut CPF employer contribution rates for older workers by 4 percentage points over the last 2 years.

"So if you were a worker in the 50-55 age group, you could have seen your wages fall as much as 10 percent over the last 3 or 4 years. Now with the economy improving, the government could bring that back, the increase is 1 or 2 percent. I'm in support of CPF tinkering but probably it happens far too often, but I think there's probably some justification to look back and think that the restructuring was a bit too aggressive on the CPF side and it has contributed somewhat to a very sandwiched middle class," said Chua Hak Bin, Director, Asia Pacific Econ & Market Analysis, Citigroup Global Markets Singapore.

The government is looking at increasing CPF by 1 to 2 percentage points in 2007.

Economists say workfare should become a more permanent pillar of the economy so as to cushion growing inequality.

- CNA /dt
 

theDoors

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Loyal
GST Hike: Helping the Sandwich Class
by Ms Seet Cher Lui Stephanie
Sengkang West Division of Ang Mo Kio GRC
Assistant Secretary, Young PAP
Dated : 14-02-2007

PAP - News & Stories

Economic Climate on the Middle Class

While the elderly and lower income groups will be better off with the GST offset package, recent economic restructuring appears to affect the middle income class the most. Given the climate of economic reforms, the impact of the GST hike on this group should not be evaluated in isolation.

The economy appears to have fully recovered from the 1997 Asian financial crisis, with 2006 registering a better-than-expected 7.6% growth. The government has also announced plans to restore CPF cuts.

There are, however, indicators of leaner times ahead, with the growing income divide being magnified with the emergence of a dual economy. Reports of middle class wage stagnation over the past ten years hardly suggest that the bullish economy benefits the majority of income-earners.
 

theDoors

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First world country, but not First World wages?
Asiaone - S'pore firm offers

Singapore has grown rapidly in the past four decades, achieving First World status in terms of economic growth.

Tue, May 18, 2010
The Straits Times

By Sue-Ann Chia, Senior Political Correspondent

THE recession is over but bosses may not be heaving a sigh of relief. A new challenge is looming: rising wage bills.

From June, bosses will no longer enjoy any wage subsidy from the Jobs Credit scheme.

From July, they will have to fork out a higher levy for foreign workers, or pay more to hire local workers as the inflow of foreigners starts to slow.

From September, they will have to put in a higher contribution to their workers' Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts.

And if that does not pack enough of a whammy, they also have to heed the national call to boost productivity and pay packages.

Poor employers, some would say, as they seem to be under attack on several fronts to raise wages.

But think of it the other way: Could it be payback time?
 

theDoors

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Loyal
FT policy may have helped widen income gap: panel - Yahoo! News Singapore

Government policies to draw foreign talent into Singapore likely helped widen the income gap in Singapore, a study by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) found.

"Rising tide of foreign workers almost certainly impacted wage growth at parts of the income distribution and thereby worsened inequality," said Manu Bhaskaran, adjunct senior research fellow at IPS who chaired a panel on "Economics: Business as usual, no longer?" for IPS’ seminar on Monday.

Making a similar observation, Paul Cheung, director of the United Nations’ Statistics Division, said that while the influx of foreign talent and workers brought a significant boost to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), it also indirectly contributed to greater income inequality,

The top tenth of Singapore households in terms of total income saw such income rise from 27.4 per cent in 2000 to 29.4 per cent in 2010, whereas that of the rest dropped over the period, he said. Households in the bottom 40 per cent saw their total income decline by 1.6 per cent, he added.

Cheung questioned the desirability of Singapore continuing to rely on cheap foreign labour to remain competitive as he pointed out that heavy reliance on foreign workers will not lead to increasing wage shares for Singaporeans.

He also highlighted the challenges faced by highly educated Singaporeans. In 2010, one in three permanent residents (PR) were aged between 30 and 39 in S
Singaporeans in this age group can expect the employment landscape to be more competitive and find it harder to move from their current income level to another, Cheung said.

“There is a high degree of anxiety among young professionals on whether they can make it in Singapore (and) whether the government is prepared to give them a fair chance in this touch competition,” he said.ingapore, compared to one in five in the same group in 2000, and many of the PRs had tertiary education background.


“If the middle-class feels that you work so hard and then you try to move up the income ladder but then lo and behold, you‘re competing with all these permanent residents – where’s the home court advantage?” he added.


However, Chua Hak Bin, director of Global Research at Merill Lynch, said last year’s Budget has helped to even out some of the differences when the government imposed stricter immigration laws and higher foreign worker levies.

Chua noted that the income inequality gap remains large despite special government transfers. More measures are necessary to help the lower income group, he added.

Also discussed during the panel was the adequacy of the current Central Provident Fund system to provide for Singaporean workers.

Those in the lower income group are especially at risk as their CPF will not provide sufficient savings for them in their retirement, and the situation is made worse by major withdrawals such as housing purchases, said Professor Hui Weng Tat, associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

Assuming that HDB purchases made at age 30 at the maximum price supportable by CPF contributions with two spouses contributing to mortgage payments, the income replacement ratio would drop to between 17 and 28 per cent for the different wage groups, at the retirement age of 65.

This would mean that a person with post secondary education earning $1,500 as his starting pay at 22 years old can only expect to live on 45 per cent of their last drawn pay when they retire. If only one spouse is working and repaying mortgage, the effect would be doubled.
 
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