I bet the PM is watching this closely and demanding more info.
Singaporean workers are too afraid to take such action. Malaysians are close enough to us to behave like us. The Chinese are where else but trained in China - gutsy and organize themselves for such action pretty effectively.
Businesses, if you hire foreigners at low prices you must understand that there is no free lunch. You get what you pay for. For a while you could get a bargain and other times you are worse off but this isn't the currency markets, eventually you get what you pay for. SMRT just did.
In the larger vein, when you open up Singapore to all and sundry from outside, you lose your identity. Since we have no KPIs for identity, we sold it for a song. Bureaucrats and politicians do not manage what they don't measure. Similarly for a long time and still true in many developing countries, businesses do not pay for polluting the environment.
Trust me, this is not a first time and the government or should I say SMRT because it's a GLC will give in. One thing is whole episode highlights is that cheap labour has been the only factor explaining Singapore's GDP. No brilliant policies from the grossly overpaid Ministers to sustain growth. Years ago the Peidu mamas protested outside the embassy to be allowed to work and quietly the government allowed it.All the tough actions is purely reserved for us brainless Singaporeans, who fail to keep the government on its toes.
ReplyDeleteI am certainly happy that this took place! Thanks to the FTs, they have reignited what is possible.
ReplyDeleteFor a long time, the labour movement has been led by duds and its time that labour stand up to the condescending attitudes of employers and Government.
But I think the powers that be will ship the whole lot out and reemploy on more stringent terms.Still, it would not change things.
A crack has formed and the wall will begin to disintegrate.
History in the making... watch it as it unfolds!
SMT PRC bus captians go on strike. Useful information
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