SINGAPORE HARBOUR BOARD FIREMEN (Conditions of Service)

Mr David Marshall asked the Prime Minister to indicate (a) the average hours of work of firemen employed by the Singapore Harbour Board; (b) whether these firemen are required to perform duties other than fire-fighting duties; and (c) how do these conditions of service compare with those of firemen in other fire-fighting services in the State.

The Prime Minister: Sir, I propose to run briefly through the conditions of service, but I will also table it for the information of Members.

The average hours -

Mr Speaker: Order. If the answer is lengthy, the Prime Minister is perfectly at liberty to say that he will circulate the answer in the Official Report.

The Prime Minister: I will summarise the oral reply to give the Member for Anson an opportunity to ask any further supplementary questions.

Sir, the average hours of work a week of firemen employed by the Singapore Harbour Board are as follows:-

For those on day duty-62 hours, in addition to which the men are required to be on stand-by for 28 hours.

For those on night shift-42 hours, in addition to which the men are required to be on stand-by for 36 hours.

Firemen work alternative shifts each week.

In addition to the normal fire-fighting duties, the Harbour Board firemen also carry out the following preventive duties:-

(i) Salvage - operation of pumps, etc, when a vessel is in danger of sinking.

(ii) Fire Watch - watch duty on board a vessel with dangerous cargo (e.g, chemicals).

(iii)Watch Duty - watch duty on board ship when burning or welding operations are in progress.

(iv) Oil Service - connect and disconnect pipes used in bunker or vegetable oil operations. Firemen working on this service are relieved of fire-fighting and other duties and work an 8-hour day.

For purposes of comparison -

(i) Firemen in the Singapore Fire Brigade work 56 to 60 hours a week, the actual hours being dependent upon the operation of the rota system, whilst those in the Airport Fire Service work an average of 60 hours a week.

(ii) Firemen in the Singapore Fire Brigade perform the following duties in addition to fire-fighting duties:-

(i) Rescue work in cases of jammed lifts.

(ii) When the exigencies of the service permit, the firemen carry out other duties for members of the public on payment of a fee to the City Council, such as filling a swimming pool or covering a fire scene for a film. The fees collected are not paid to them.

(iii) Off-duty firemen are sent to do fire-watching duties at cinemas and at other public places of entertainment where it is considered necessary that a firemen should be in attendance. A fee of $3/- is charged for each duty period of 2 hours or part thereof. Half of this fee is paid to the firemen carrying out such work on off-duty hours.

Firemen in the Airport Fire Service also perform preventive duties such as attending refuellings, spillages (washing of apron of such spillage), defuellings, fuel flow tests, training flights, disposal of waste oil, and so on.

Mr David Marshall: Is the Prime Minister aware, from the figures he has given, that with a day shift of 90 hours a week and a night shift of 78 hours a week, the Harbour Board Firemen do not have a single day's holiday in the week at all? Does he consider that appropriate, or would he consider seeking an amelioration of those conditions?

The Prime Minister: These are matters which are looked after by the union. My own personal experience is that the firemen set out to form their own union sometime in 1956/1957 when a group of them broke away from the Singapore Harbour Board Staff Association. It is now a matter for debate whether the Singapore Harbour Board Staff Association or some other union which they formed represents the majority of the men. But whatever the position is, I would say that this is a subject matter for negotiation, and not for the Prime Minister really to apply his mind to each particular case to see whether it is just or unjust. I would like to point out, however, that 28 hours out of the 90 hours in the day shift and 36 hours out of the 78 hours in the night shift are stand-by duties, which means that a man should be available in case there is an emergency. In other words, if he is going to a cinema, he should inform his family where he could be found. If he is going to visit an ailing aunt, he should make sure that somebody at home knows where the ailing aunt lives, and so on. If he is out with a guitar serenading by the quay-side, similarly it is expected that he will inform his friends where he can be found if needed for his other arduous duties. But everything said and done, what I would suggest as appropriate in this case is that if the men feel that conditions are too onerous, they have a union - they have two in fact - and representations can be made to the Board.

Mr David Marshall: Do I understand from the Prime Minister, who is in charge of the Ministry into which the Harbour Board comes, that the representations should be made to him?

The Prime Minister: I think the Member for Anson understands wrongly. I am not the employer of the men. The employer is the Singapore Harbour Board. There is a Chairman, there is a Board. It so happens that for ministerial purposes, it comes under my portfolio. But I think that the Member for Anson will appreciate that if I were to be in charge of all these other things, it might well be that I would wind up in a dizzy spin, as others who try to do as much often do wind up in dizzy spins.