Breaking News! 200 SMRT bus drivers went on strike!

[SingaporeNINJA]

Dun complain so much. Later SMRT bring in the Vietnamese, then you've Vietcongs to deal with.
They're a tougher lot than the tiongs, let's be clear about this.

 

[OverTheCounter]

This is correct.

Agreed totally.

Thanks man u help me crystallize my thoughts on the matter.

It is simple economics.

If the wage differentials were huge (like in the early days of the FT policy), this will not have happened. As rational economic agents, the PRC drivers would have weighed the cost of going on strike and decided that they were still better off accepting the less favorable conditions because it was still much better than what they could have gotten back home.

This is happening because wage differentials have narrowed to the point where the PRC drivers do not fear deportation. In absolute terms, the salary gap might still be huge. However if you take into account employment agent fees, cost of living in Singapore etc, the gap narrows so that there is no longer any fear of being deported.

Moving forward, the wage differential will continue narrow. And with each narrowing, we come closer to the day of economic reckoning for the house of cards built by the the PAP.

 

[Fook Seng]

..... Of course they should be paid less than the malaysian drivers because they can't speak English and Malay !!!! Effective communicating is an important skill set. Period !:oIo:

Also the money they bring home is worth more than the money the Malaysian drivers bring home. This is the the whole principle of engaging foreign labour. It is cheaper than local labour and existing foreign labour and yet the salaries are relatively attractive to the foreign worker.

 

[halsey02]

Desmond choo choo train, going to kiss the Ah tiongs...if this was SINgaporeans...the whole lot will be arrested..even though who went home..the poodle will hunt every one of them down...what do you think..!!!!

 

[chonburifc]

Wow! 42 PRC drivers who return to work kena Sinkiefied.

 

[zhihau]

Steam is the right world

bro,
which kind of steam? when me lanjiao steam me get fainting spells :o:o:o

 

[halsey02]

Re: Complete No Brainer: the strike be PRC bus drivers.....

Nobody want to say anything ...the CHINAMEN, by refusing to go work, under contract, is TAKING INDUSTRIAL ACTION, & that is STRIKE!! what do you think?.

 

[commoner]

Re: Complete No Brainer: the strike be PRC bus drivers.....

flooding called ponding,,,

fucking crowded called not-crash whatever

damn fucking expensive called affordable

million dollar salary called bargain

strike is another word for sit-in

 

[Debonerman]

Re: Complete No Brainer: the strike be PRC bus drivers.....

There is a CIA equivalent section in the Chinese embassy. Think they would not know what was coming or not going?

 

[Equalisation]

Re: Complete No Brainer: the strike be PRC bus drivers.....

This is incredulous to say the least.

Demanding more pay but cannot speak a word of English !! Commuters ask for directions faced with a bunch of theses idiots !

Same with their female specie. Only know one phrase : woh yow lai ler, woh yow lai ler !!:oIo::p

 

[scroobal]

Have to agree with this. Have seen this amongst their professionals as well as their students who are abroad.

One very obvious thing about the overseas PRC mentality is their sense of entitlement when outside their country. PRCs are not stupid people and they know that communism had robbed them of opportunities for the past 63 years. That's one generation of living under planned economy and time wasted in the race for wealth accumulation.

When they leave home to seek a better life, they have no time for etiquette/social norms/guidelines/codes of conduct/rules/laws.... Only want to make back what their parents have missed out on.

 

[tualingong]

Which is longer??

Did Not Show Up for Work

or

Strike??

No-show by SMRT bus drivers a strike or protest?
By Imelda Saad | Posted: 27 November 2012 1236 hrs

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Bus drivers involved in wage dispute leaving their Woodlands dormitory. (PHOTO/TODAY) [/TD]
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SINGAPORE: 102 SMRT bus drivers, all China nationals, refused to turn up for work on Monday over pay dispute, and on Tuesday morning, over half of those involved did not show up for work again.

There's been a lot of talk about why the media and even the Manpower Ministry and SMRT have not been calling the wage protest a strike.

Instead, terms like "sit-in", "sit-out", "protest", "did not show up for work" were used.

There are several reasons for this and they have to do with the law.

As this has to do with an essential service - in this case, transport - the law is very specific on what is considered a strike.

Under Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act, it is a strike only when the worker gives his employer at least 14 days' advance notice of his intention to do so.

This notice has to be signed by at least seven fellow workers involved in the strike or by at least seven union representatives of the workers.

The notice then needs to be acknowledged and signed by the employer, after which, that notice needs to be put up in at least three conspicuous places where the workers are employed.

That's a legal strike, if rules are followed.

Anything else, it's an illegal strike and there are consequences. A person involved in that could be fined up to S$2,000 and jailed up to 12 months.

A person who instigates or finances an illegal strike also faces the same penalties.

The last strike in Singapore was in 1986 by shipyard workers.

- CNA

 

[Fishypie]

Re: Which is longer??

Deleted.Posting under wrong thread..

 

[laksaboy]

Re: Which is longer??

Typical of the porlumpar media to play semantics.

LOL. 14 days of advance notice? Never heard of impromptu strikes?

Why not just be honest and admit that the SG authorities have no balls when it comes to dealing with foreign nationals.

 

[lianbeng]

Re: Which is longer??

lianbeng heard coffeeshop uncles said: wait lah! their contract will end soon then MOM will boot them all OUT!

 

[scroobal]

The fact that they were successfully recruited tells me at least perception wise there was a sufficient differential to get people to accept the offers and move from PRC to Singapore. If it did not exist, there would not be acceptance.

In this case the differential that triggered the crisis was not between PRC and Singapore wage structure but between Malaysian Drivers and PRC drivers both of whom do the exact job. There is also the prior issue where the original wage dispute dragged on, made the press and finally SMRT relented and gave in. The non-unionised PRC (and I suspect they did not participate in the original negotiations) got the worse deal. Its more an issue of fairness and whether they could do their own bargaining like the previous dispute and get their share of the pie.

Companies need to rationalise their wage structure where the wage differential between staff doing the same job must not be so wide that an SMRT bus can do a u-turn which in this case is very wide.

What SMRT should have done is create a different scheme of service - in terms of shift hours, longer shorter, graveyard, longer and shorter route, new bus, old bus. Etc In the developed counties, the additional pay comes from doing unattractive hours and tasks.

It is simple economics.

If the wage differentials were huge (like in the early days of the FT policy), this will not have happened. As rational economic agents, the PRC drivers would have weighed the cost of going on strike and decided that they were still better off accepting the less favorable conditions because it was still much better than what they could have gotten back home.

This is happening because wage differentials have narrowed to the point where the PRC drivers do not fear deportation. In absolute terms, the salary gap might still be huge. However if you take into account employment agent fees, cost of living in Singapore etc, the gap narrows so that there is no longer any fear of being deported.

Moving forward, the wage differential will continue narrow. And with each narrowing, we come closer to the day of economic reckoning for the house of cards built by the the PAP.

 

[borom]

Spurs on the hide of locals now becoming thorns on the skins of the pappy.
X'mas is here early and will the the other beloved foreign talents from India and the Philippines learn fron the PRC's
and do likewise?
If the PRC's can get away with it, why not the other foreigners?

 

[Bigfuck]

Spurs on the hide of locals now becoming thorns on the skins of the pappy.
X'mas is here early and will the the other beloved foreign talents from India and the Philippines learn fron the PRC's
and do likewise?
If the PRC's can get away with it, why not the other foreigners?

Why you so vindictive? Ask not what how you can dictate systems, ask what systems can dictate of you.

 

[CALLofDUTY]

Re: Complete No Brainer: the strike be PRC bus drivers.....

This is incredulous to say the least.

Demanding more pay but cannot speak a word of English !! Commuters ask for directions faced with a bunch of theses idiots !

Same with their female specie. Only know one phrase : woh yow lai ler, woh yow lai ler !!:oIo::p

They can speak Mandarin, but not Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese or Hainanese.

I believe this country has a language issue. It's not English, not Mandarin, not Malayu. Don't know what this country is.

 

[sleaguepunter]

Re: Complete No Brainer: the strike be PRC bus drivers.....

It official, the 6.30pm TV news had deemed the PRC action as illegal industrial action aka strike.