MINISTRY OF LABOUR

With an open economy. Singapore will inevitably be affected by the uncertain international economic situation in the immediate years ahead. Without natural resources of its own, the Republic must move to minimise the adverse effects of international economic developments. In the labour field, the Ministry will continue to work with unions and employers to contribute to economic growth through the promotion of a stable and peaceful industrial climate, the fostering of a disciplined and productive workforce and the safeguarding of the welfare, safety and health of our workers.

I Industrial Relations

Singapore's main resource is manpower, trained and productive. Our workers must work harder, upgrade their skills and increase their productivity. Union leaders at headquarters and branch levels as well as workers should accept that future wage increases have to be orderly and related to higher productivity and economic growth. Fringe benefits which have escalated in recent years must not be extended in range or quantum. Those which are bizarre or not conducive to economic progress will have to be discontinued. The National Wages Council will examine the question of the full offsetting of its wage guidelines against all forms of increases of remuneration. It will also consider whether employees who job-hop should be granted the full wage increase recommended. Rationalisation of fringe benefits will also be looked into by the Council. At the plant level, employers will be encouraged to implement productivity incentive schemes to ensure greater efforts on the workers' part and reward for such additional performance.

The Ministry will further improve its industrial relations services by adopting a more alert and positive approach to the prevention and settlement of industrial disputes. A departmental service will be introduced to build up a corps of experienced labour and industrial relations officers.

II Manpower Utilisation

Measures will be taken by the Employment Service to secure employment for more persons on its register of unemployed. The present Disablement Resettlement Scheme for the training and subsequent employment of disabled persons will be extended to industrially disabled workers.

Although about 4 per cent of its workforce are registered as technically unemployed at the Employment Service, Singapore still has to grant work permits to large numbers of foreign workers. Young Singaporeans have become choosy about their employment preferring not to accept "hard" jobs even though they are better paid. They prefer to remain unemployed until a "soft" job to their liking is found. The Ministry of Labour is examining a study group's recommendations for encouraging Singaporeans to work in the construction industry. Studies will be undertaken of other industries which are avoided by Singaporeans so that corrective action can be taken.

III Industrial Safety and Health

Special attention will continue to be paid to reducing the accident rate of the construction industry and the shipbuilding and repairing industries. The Factory Inspectorate will ensure better compliance by contractors of the provision of life-line anchorages in view of the large number of construction workers injured or killed through falling from heights. It will conduct further studies on means of providing life-line anchorages for walls without openings.

To reduce the number of workers being struck by falling objects, the lnspectorate will step up enforcement. Contractors will be required to provide safety measures such as safety helmets, overhead shelters and proper debris disposal facilities. They will also have to supervise their workers to ensure that they comply with safety rules. With more machines being used, training of operators in their proper handling will be intensified. Shipyard personnel and contract workers will continue to be trained in safety measures, ship-inspection and fire-fighting. Shipyards will be further encouraged to introduce self-regulating systems of safety and health as part of their management functions and assistance will be provided where necessary.

The Factory Inspectorate will work with SISIR and professional bodies to produce codes of practice for the design and erection of scaffolds, formworks. machine guarding, lifting equipment and pressure vessels. Amendments to the Factories Act will be introduced to provide for enhanced penalties for offences which are likely to cause the death of or bodily injury to workers. The Ministry is studying a proposal to establish an Occupational Safety and Health Institute to provide training, consultancy and research in industrial safety and health. A report on the matter has been submitted by an ILO expert on occupational safety and health.

The Industrial Health Department will take measures to protect workers from cancer-causing substances used in industry. Additional programmes to improve the competence of industrial health nurses will be introduced.

IV Productivity

The National Productivity Board will give greater emphasis on assistance to small and medium-sized local enterprises to improve their productivity. Training of supervisors and junior and middle management executives will be given more attention. Consultancy in small business management will be introduced while those in industrial engineering, management techniques and low cost automation will be continued. The expansion of such a service to systems analysis, management information systems and computer application techniques to industries will be examined. The Board will intensify its promotional work in the field of productivity. It will also assist in the formulation of productivity schemes.

ONG PANG BOON Minister for Labour