By Naseema Banu Maideen
The year has sure started on a sparkling note for about 3,600 school cleaners. They will all enjoy pay increases that will bring their pay packets to at least $1,000. This rewarding increment comes to these workers through the tripartite efforts of the Government, the Labour Movement and employers through the Progressive Wage Model.
These school cleaners who are contracted by the Ministry of Education (MOE) are among the first batch of 10,000 workers targeted by the Tripartite Cluster for Cleaners (TCC), which aims to improve the skills, wages, productivity and career ladders of workers in the sector. The TCC comprises dedicated efforts of the Labour Movement’s Building and Facility Management Services (BFM) Cluster and its industry partners. BFM Cluster Lead Zainal Sapari celebrated this tripartite achievement through a Facebook post on 8 January 2013.
He said in his post: “….They will get a big pay increase because MOE, the service providers, the union and the schools have worked very hard last year to get them to undergo training, job redesign and adoption of technology to improve their skills and productivity. Kudos to the Government for taking the lead to get this group of low-wage workers to be on the Progressive Wage Model. My staff was heartened when these cleaners came forward to thank us.”
Many of these cleaners were drawing salaries within the range of $650 and $750. Therefore, the significant wage increases beginning from this January, some up to $300, will inevitably be a morale boost for them.
Added Mr Zainal: “We worked tirelessly with the tripartite partners to upgrade the skills of the cleaners. With better skills, they are now able to improve their productivity. We also assisted cleaning companies with the Inclusive Growth Programme (IGP) funding to adopt technology, processes and equipment to improve their productivity. With all on board on the same track with a common vision, we have made this possible.”
He also added that the next immediate targets are the cleaners contracted under other Government ministries. There are already talks and works-in-progress with the National Environment Agency (NEA) to explore on how workers doing public cleansing and those deployed at hawker centres can benefit from the Progressive Wage Model, Mr Zainal said.
These efforts by the TCC will be ramped up this year, and the Labour Movement will play its part by reaching out to rope in more cleaning companies onto its various platforms such as the Best-Sourcing Initiative (BSI) to uplift workers’ incomes, productivity, skills and careers in the sector.
