As reported by TOC and others, the drivers originally came to Singapore on employment contracts requiring a five-day working week. This was subsequently replaced with a six-day working week contract, for less money on a pro-rata basis, and the drivers don’t seem to have had any chance for constructive discussion on that at all. Is it fair? I know I would hate that. I doubt Teo Ser Luck or any other PAP minister can understand this point, since parliament only sits 30 days out of the year, but being required to work an extra day a week seems extremely unfair to me. It seems obvious that if the drivers had been given a fair chance to negotiate the re-writing of their contracts, a fair deal agreeable to all parties could have been worked out, and this whole mess could have been avoided. But the reality is that the drivers have been trying to engage with MOM and SMRT for months, and have been ignored for months. When going through the “proper channels” leads nowhere, and people get ignored for months on end, what do you expect to happen, really? Full story
OPINION: What’s a contract worth in Singapore? — Andy Wong
As reported by TOC and others, the drivers originally came to Singapore on employment contracts requiring a five-day working week. This was subsequently replaced with a six-day working week contract, for less money on a pro-rata basis, and the drivers don’t seem to have had any chance for constructive discussion on that at all. Is it fair? I know I would hate that. I doubt Teo Ser Luck or any other PAP minister can understand this point, since parliament only sits 30 days out of the year, but being required to work an extra day a week seems extremely unfair to me. It seems obvious that if the drivers had been given a fair chance to negotiate the re-writing of their contracts, a fair deal agreeable to all parties could have been worked out, and this whole mess could have been avoided. But the reality is that the drivers have been trying to engage with MOM and SMRT for months, and have been ignored for months. When going through the “proper channels” leads nowhere, and people get ignored for months on end, what do you expect to happen, really? Full story
