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[h=2]Singaporean working at Cold Storage as retail assistant paid less than $1,000 monthly[/h]Posted by temasektimes on July 4, 2012

Cold Storage supermarket may be one of the largest supermarket chains in Singapore, but its Singaporean workers are still very poorly paid.
According to one irate Patrick Lee who wrote to the Straits Times Forum today, his brother who worked for the Cold Storage supermarkets for several years as a retail assistant is paid less than S$1,000 monthly.
To compound matters, Cold Storage will not adopt the National Wages Council (NWC) recommendation to adjust the pay of its low-wage workers.
“Already, my brother has to work six days a week, and on public holidays as well. He does not receive a half-day off for Chinese New Year’s Eve or Christmas Eve; he cannot apply for block leave and does not know his day off in advance. The compensation for working on public holidays amounts to very little, and he is not given a day off as compensation.”
He expressed his surprise at its refusal to follow the NWC wage guidelines to give a raise to low-income workers.
“I am puzzled why a big company like Dairy Farm will not follow the NWC wage guidelines for workers like my brother, who sacrifice much so Cold Storage can function daily. I can now understand why many citizens shun such work, because one is virtually yoked to the job.”
Despite a booming economy, the wages of Singapore’s low-income workers have stagnated in recent years due to the relentless influx of cheaper foreign workers.
Singapore has the highest income gap between the rich and the poor among the thirty most developed economies in the world after Hong Kong.

Cold Storage supermarket may be one of the largest supermarket chains in Singapore, but its Singaporean workers are still very poorly paid.
According to one irate Patrick Lee who wrote to the Straits Times Forum today, his brother who worked for the Cold Storage supermarkets for several years as a retail assistant is paid less than S$1,000 monthly.
To compound matters, Cold Storage will not adopt the National Wages Council (NWC) recommendation to adjust the pay of its low-wage workers.
“Already, my brother has to work six days a week, and on public holidays as well. He does not receive a half-day off for Chinese New Year’s Eve or Christmas Eve; he cannot apply for block leave and does not know his day off in advance. The compensation for working on public holidays amounts to very little, and he is not given a day off as compensation.”
He expressed his surprise at its refusal to follow the NWC wage guidelines to give a raise to low-income workers.
“I am puzzled why a big company like Dairy Farm will not follow the NWC wage guidelines for workers like my brother, who sacrifice much so Cold Storage can function daily. I can now understand why many citizens shun such work, because one is virtually yoked to the job.”
Despite a booming economy, the wages of Singapore’s low-income workers have stagnated in recent years due to the relentless influx of cheaper foreign workers.
Singapore has the highest income gap between the rich and the poor among the thirty most developed economies in the world after Hong Kong.
