By S Ramesh | Posted: 25 November 2010 1325 hrs
SINGAPORE: Labour
Chief Lim Swee Say said he would not be pushing for every company to
match the two-and-a-half months year-end bonus for civil servants,
announced on Wednesday
He explained performances across different
industries would be different.
But he added that feedback from
union members indicate that overall wage increases this year are likely
to be higher than those of last year, with companies paying on the
average half a month more in terms of year-end bonus.
Speaking to
the media after an NTUC learning journey to Sakae Sushi, he said total
wages for workers in companies which are doing better this year, should
be higher than those in 2009.
But how much of these wages go into
wage increases and variable bonuses would vary across companies and
organisations.
He said what's important to note was that the
flexible wage system has worked very well for Singapore up to now and
the labour movement hopes it will continue to function well in the
future.
For this, the NTUC Chief emphasised that it's important
to maintain trust.
This meant that it's important for employers
to share the gains and improvements in performance with their workers if
their companies are doing well.
In this way, all parties will
strengthen the wage system in good and bad times.
He said: "So
far, on the whole, most companies are doing much better than last year.
"(As
such), some of them decided to (increase wages) because of the keener
competition and tighter labour market.
"In some cases they are
restoring the monthly variable component (MVC) because some (employers)
did cut MVCs during the downturn.
"In (other) cases they are
going to pay higher bonuses".
As for the labour market situation,
Mr Lim said he believe it would remain tight.
The government
also announced on Wednesday that it had again decided to defer the
salary adjustments for Administrative Officers, Political, Judicial and
Statutory Appointment holders.
Mr Lim said: "What we worry about
is not whether our salary will be restored... (but) how we are going to
sustain the growth for the next three, five to 10 years, and how we keep
ensuring that the employment growth will be healthy and strong so that
there will be more good paying jobs for Singaporeans."
He added
it was important for every Singaporean, regardless of age group,
education and skills levels, to be able to pursue a productive career
and lead a better life.
"That is really the pre-occupation of the
political leaders as well as the senior civil servants," he said.
-CNA/wk