- Published on Monday, 03 December 2012 18:23
- Written by Bloomberg News
Singapore’s first
labor protest since the 1980s led to the deportation of 29 Chinese bus
drivers on Sunday and the prosecution of five others, highlighting the
difficulty balancing a work force reliant on foreign employees.
More than 170 bus
drivers failed to report for duty on November 26, while 88 halted work
the next day, according to SMRT Corp., Singapore’s biggest subway
operator and one of its two main bus companies.
The striking workers,
all from China, were unhappy with their salary increments and raised
concerns about living conditions, SMRT said.
The deportations and
strike show the perceived inequality among workers on an island reliant
on foreign labor with limited union representation. In a city with 3.3
million citizens and 2 million foreigners, complaints about overseas
workers depriving locals of jobs and driving up home prices helped
opposition parties win record support in last year’s general elections.
The incident indicates
that Singapore’s model “may not have kept up with its changing
industrial landscape,” said Eugene Tan, a Singapore Management
University assistant law professor and a non-elected lawmaker who has
limited voting rights. It raises the question of whether workers are
adequately represented and how you maintain harmonious industrial
relations when workers are segmented, he said yesterday.
Singapore completed
the deportations between 12.15 a.m. and 4:35 p.m. local time on Sunday,
according to an e-mailed statement from the Ministry of Home Affairs
late on Sunday.
“They were cooperative
and the process took place without incident,” it said. “People’s
Republic of China Embassy officials, as well as SMRT staff, assisted in
the repatriation exercise.”
‘Highly concerned’
China previously said it was “highly concerned” about the arrest of its citizens.
The
bus drivers facing charges could be imprisoned for as long as a year
for taking part in an “illegal strike” that disrupted “Singapore’s
industrial harmony,” according to statements posted to Singapore
government web sites. Four were arrested and charged, while the fifth
was to be charged on Monday.
Labor protests in
Singapore are rare and unions have limited scope for industrial action
as the government encourages consultative relations between employers
and workers.
In 2004, Ryan Goh, a
pilot at Singapore Airlines Ltd., the national carrier, was singled out
by the government as the instigator in a disagreement on wages, and
failed in his appeal to retain his Singapore permanent residency status,
the Straits Times reported at the time.
Malaysian drivers
Among SMRT’s drivers from China, only 10 percent are union members, according to a Straits Times
report on November 30, citing unidentified labor union officials. The
newspaper said the strike, the first in the city since 1986, was to
protest against what they saw as low wages compared to Malaysian
drivers, and poor living conditions.
While the workers’
actions were wrong, SMRT “could have done better in managing their labor
grievances,” Tan Chuan-Jin, acting minister for manpower, said in a
speech received by e-mail on December 1. “SMRT must take steps to ensure
that a severe breakdown in labor relations like what we saw this week
does not happen again.”
The four drivers are
charged with conspiring to instigate a strike by workers employed by
SMRT Buses Ltd., according to charge sheets filed at the city’s
Subordinate Court.
Police warnings will
be issued to the remaining drivers with no other action taken by the
government as “they showed remorse over their actions, or were even
coerced into participating,” according to the Ministry of Manpower.
Following laws
“Foreign nationals
should abide by the laws of their host countries,” Tan said.
“Singaporeans who work and live overseas are also expected to do so.”
Strikes
are illegal for workers in Singapore’s essential services unless their
employers are given two weeks’ notice, according to the Manpower
Ministry.
SMRT shares rose 1.5 percent last week, lagging behind the 2.7-percent gain in the Singapore benchmark Straits Times Index.
The 29 bus drivers will be paid before they leave the country, SMRT said on December 1, along with pro-rated bonuses.
“Valuable
lessons have been learnt from this incident which are being addressed
by the management,” SMRT said in an e-mailed statement on December 1.
“We need to improve our management, communication and engagement efforts
to be more proactive, responsible and sensitive to the needs of our
service leaders,” it said, a term it uses for bus drivers. (Bloomberg News)
In Photo: Singapore office workers. (Bloomberg)
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