Progressive Wage Model for waste management sector kicks in Jul 1

AHEAD of the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) kicking in for the waste management sector on Jul 1, some firms have already raised their lower-wage workers’ salaries.

One example is Impetus Conceptus, which specialises in the collection and disposal of documents. Its director K Nallathamby said higher wages enable the company to keep its workers, given that attrition rates are high in the industry because it entails strenuous manual work.

“Our workers have to physically carry heavy boxes of up to 30 kg up several storeys,” he said.

At an event to show appreciation for waste-management workers on Thursday (Jun 15), Senior Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad noted that the PWM for this sector was the last in a planned series.

When it kicks in, all recommendations by the tripartite workgroup on lower-wage workers will have been implemented; nine in 10 lower-wage workers are now covered by progressive wage recommendations, he said.

The previously announced PWM means higher monthly baseline salaries for up to 3,000 waste-management workers, increased yearly over six years. Workers, on their part, have to attend at least two Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications modules.

Impetus Conceptus has passed on its higher wage costs to its clients. Nallathamby said the company’s clients have not complained. They “understand that prices of everything have gone up, and they do not consider the increment to be a large one. They understand that manpower is getting more expensive”.

The PWM also sets out training requirements, which charts the career progression for such lower-wage workers. Impetus Conceptus’ driver K Ramesh, for instance, attended a three-day course which has prepared him to become a hooklift driver down the road.

He said that under the PWM, his company is to send him for more courses to upgrade his skills. He aims to become a supervisor or team leader eventually.

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Higher pay, career pathways for up to 3,000 workers with Progressive Wage Model for waste management sector

National Trades Union Congress assistant secretary-general Melvin Yong urged the public to support lower-wage workers, even as they are uplifted by the PWM: “I’m sure that everyone will agree that waste collection is an essential service that we cannot do without every day.”