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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - Ong Ah Heng: Why we need FT bus drivers</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead vAlign=top><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>kojakbt_89 <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>Mar-3 9:13 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 23) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>29497.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>Mar 3, 2010
BUDGET DEBATE
Disquiet drives transport unionist to make plea
<!-- by line -->By Zakir Hussain
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Mr Ong related how companies had problems employing locals for some jobs.
http://www.straitstimes.com/Singapore/Story/STIStory_497112.htmlhttp://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/image/20100303/b10-6.jpg
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LABOUR MP Ong Ah Heng (Nee Soon Central) has been fighting for the welfare of bus drivers for nearly 30 years, and helped redesign their jobs in recent years. But even with a pay of $1,800, 'which is not small', very few locals want the job, he lamented.
This was why Singapore needs foreigners to drive buses here, he told the House yesterday. Speaking in Mandarin, Mr Ong acknowledged that the issue of foreign workers had created some disquiet among segments of the population.
He said: 'In my constituency, many low-wage workers are hostile to foreign workers because they think foreign workers depress their wages.'
Mr Ong, who is honorary consultant to the National Transport Workers' Union, said the two bus companies here get about 30 per cent to 40 per cent of their drivers from Malaysia and China. Of SBS Transit's 5,500 drivers, only 38 per cent are citizens, with the others permanent residents or foreigners. For SMRT, 70 per cent of its 2,000 drivers are Singaporeans or PRs. 'If not for foreign drivers, who will be driving our buses?' he asked.
Having outsiders augment the drivers' pool means commuters wait only five minutes for some buses, he said. And even if wages of drivers could go up, would people be willing to pay higher fares?
A similar conundrum exists in cleaning, construction and manual work, which Singaporeans shun, despite recent efforts by the labour movement to upgrade such jobs to attract locals. Cleaning contractors pay $800 to $1,000 a worker, while foreign workers are paid only $600, noted Mr Ong.
He related how a cleaning contractor asked him to suggest locals for the job, and he found work for several residents over the age of 60 who said they did not have money for breakfast. But they quit after three days. 'How can you blame employers for employing foreign workers? Every Singaporean knows if they don't do this, all work will come to a stop,' he said.
He also noted that foreign cleaners are invaluable to housing estates, and cited a family who complained that cleaners in their area were lazy and old. 'They don't want local workers who are old, they want young foreign workers. To satisfy the demand, I changed the local workers to foreign workers. Foreign workers are not a burden to us,' he said. 'Without foreign workers, things will be worse.'
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BUDGET DEBATE
Disquiet drives transport unionist to make plea
<!-- by line -->By Zakir Hussain
<!-- end by line -->
<!-- end left side bar -->
http://www.straitstimes.com/Singapore/Story/STIStory_497112.htmlhttp://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/image/20100303/b10-6.jpg
<!-- story content : start -->
LABOUR MP Ong Ah Heng (Nee Soon Central) has been fighting for the welfare of bus drivers for nearly 30 years, and helped redesign their jobs in recent years. But even with a pay of $1,800, 'which is not small', very few locals want the job, he lamented.
This was why Singapore needs foreigners to drive buses here, he told the House yesterday. Speaking in Mandarin, Mr Ong acknowledged that the issue of foreign workers had created some disquiet among segments of the population.
He said: 'In my constituency, many low-wage workers are hostile to foreign workers because they think foreign workers depress their wages.'
Mr Ong, who is honorary consultant to the National Transport Workers' Union, said the two bus companies here get about 30 per cent to 40 per cent of their drivers from Malaysia and China. Of SBS Transit's 5,500 drivers, only 38 per cent are citizens, with the others permanent residents or foreigners. For SMRT, 70 per cent of its 2,000 drivers are Singaporeans or PRs. 'If not for foreign drivers, who will be driving our buses?' he asked.
Having outsiders augment the drivers' pool means commuters wait only five minutes for some buses, he said. And even if wages of drivers could go up, would people be willing to pay higher fares?
A similar conundrum exists in cleaning, construction and manual work, which Singaporeans shun, despite recent efforts by the labour movement to upgrade such jobs to attract locals. Cleaning contractors pay $800 to $1,000 a worker, while foreign workers are paid only $600, noted Mr Ong.
He related how a cleaning contractor asked him to suggest locals for the job, and he found work for several residents over the age of 60 who said they did not have money for breakfast. But they quit after three days. 'How can you blame employers for employing foreign workers? Every Singaporean knows if they don't do this, all work will come to a stop,' he said.
He also noted that foreign cleaners are invaluable to housing estates, and cited a family who complained that cleaners in their area were lazy and old. 'They don't want local workers who are old, they want young foreign workers. To satisfy the demand, I changed the local workers to foreign workers. Foreign workers are not a burden to us,' he said. 'Without foreign workers, things will be worse.'
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