Australia Raise Minimum Wage by 4.8%
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Singaporean got Short changed our Govt run union continue to preach Cheaper, Faster, Better......
Lets look at others..............
CANBERRA—In a victory for unions, Australia's new independent workplace-relations tribunal said Thursday it will raise the country's minimum wage by 4.8% to 569.90 Australian dollars (about US$485) in early July.
The decision raises the wage rate paid to the country's lowest paid workers to A$15 an hour. It falls just A$1 short of calls by organized labor for a pay rise of A$27 a week.
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United States........
As of July 24, 2009[update], the federal minimum wage in the United States is $7.25 per hour. Some states and municipalities have minimum wages higher than this (see List of U.S. minimum wages), but some U.S. territories (such as American Samoa) are exempt. Some types of labor are also exempt, and tipped labor must be paid a minimum of $2.13 per hour, as long as the hourly wage plus tipped income result in a minimum of $7.25 per hour.
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The U.K.
Sunday, October 1, 2006
A minimum wage increase has come into effect in the United Kingdom. Workers of ages over 21 will now receive £5.35, which at current exchange rates is US$10.03.
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The case for a minimum wage
Mr Lee Kuan Yew says that paying Minimum Wage is undesirable because introducing such a legislation will cut employment (watch video below). This, he concludes, will undermine the competitiveness of an economy. Such a view is simplistic and, unfortunately, not more robustly challenged in the public sphere, thanks to the control of the media.
The Minister Mentor says that “market forces” should determine the wage levels of workers in Singapore. Paying workers $3 and ministers $1,000 for an hour’s work is not “market forces”—it is exploitation at its ugliest.
Paying indecently low wages in high-cost Singapore not only dehumanises our workers, it also creates insecurity in the workforce which works against productivity. A wage structure that is out of kilter with productivity is inimical to long-term growth.
Legislating minimum wage, the lowest amount of wages an employer may legally pay to an employee, will ensure that workers will not be exploited.
Of course, employers and businesspeople instinctively fear a Minimum Wage policy because such legislation would drive wage costs up, cutting into their profit margins. But such a view neglects to take into account that higher wages increase the spending power of workers in general which stimulates consumption and ultimately benefits business.
Minimum wage also increases the productivity as financially secure workers can focus on their jobs instead of being distracted with having to find supplementary income because of low and inadequate wages.
It also reduces poverty and want which can breed mistrust and resentment towards management thereby lowering quality output of work.
At the state level, Minimum Wage decreases the cost of welfare programs by increasing incomes for the lowest-paid. Such legislation is also relatively easy to enforce because the enforcement agencies only need to act on reported cases of wage violations instead of setting up large bodies to monitor a programme.
Most of all Minimum Wage prevents workers from being exploited and allows prosperity to be shared by all.
Today over 90 percent of countries across the world have Minimum Wage in one form or another. The few countries that have no laws or regulations on Minimum Wage are Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Tonga, Brunei, Somalia, and, of course, Singapore.
Even Hong Kong is doing something about its income inequality. A minimum wage bill was introduced in the Legislative Council in 2009 and is expected to be passed and enacted in 2010 or 2011. The city even has a Minimum Wage of HK$3,580 (approximately S$650) per month for its foreign domestic workers.
Most economists today agree that the negative effects of such a policy to employers as well as employees are relatively minor.
The Singapore Democrats propose a Minimum Wage of $6.80 per hour. This amount is computed based on a weekly salary of $300 which is necessary for an individual to subsist in Singapore. The amount is divided by the standard of 44 hours of work per week. This amount would be applicable to the lowest of the low-wage income earners.
Given the growing income divide in Singapore and the fact that those on the lower end of the economic ladder continue to face crushing financial burdens, the idea of Minimum Wage is becoming increasingly compelling and urgent.
Sgpolitics take on minimum wage:
The issue of whether Singaporeans should be entitled to a minimum wage has cropped up from time to time and sparked heated debates.
Some people have argued that the presence of a minimum wage may paradoxically lead to an increase in unemployment, due to the fact that the profit margins of companies employing low wage workers will be reduced, forcing them to either close down or relocate.
Allegedly, in response to larger labor costs, businesses will then try to compensate for the decrease in profit by simply raising the prices of the goods being sold, thus causing inflation and hurting consumers.
But in my opinion, such arguments fail to take into account the responsibility of a Government to provide for its citizens by making sure there is always a level playing field for all, including working class Singaporeans. Such arguments also neglect to consider the unique circumstances Singapore is in and the failed economic policies of the PAP.
Firstly, the Singapore economy has become uncompetitive over the years due to the entrenchment of GLCs which currently make up 60% of our economy, and the Government allowing costs to balloon out of control and allowing our economy to become increasingly rent-seeking. In economic parlance, rent seeking occurs when an individual, organization or firm seeks to earn income by capturing economic rent through manipulation or exploitation of the economic environment, rather than by earning profits through economic transactions and the production of added wealth. (See wikipedia.)
In particular, office rentals in Singapore are very high due to lack of market regulation and the steep rise in property prices due to large inflow of foreign funds into Singapore. High rentals pose the heaviest burden to businesses next to wages, and is in fact a more fundamental reason why the Singapore economy has become uncompetitive over the years. It is therefore in my opinion far more justified to increase the competitiveness of our economy by addressing the issue of incredulously high office rentals rather than allowing our wages to be kept artificially low by resisting a minimum wage whilst importing a large number of lowly skilled foreign workers.
High rentals are just one aspect of Singapore’s rent-seeking economy. Other significant aspects include the flourishing of middle-men like employment agents who import foreign workers into Singapore and charge high commissions to those workers, pushing them severely into debt and forcing many of them to borrow from loan sharks just for the chance to come to work in Singapore.
Secondly, instituting a minimum wage in Singapore is not likely to lead to a wage-inflation spiral due to the fact that inflation in Singapore is influenced more by import prices rather than domestic demand.
The wage gap in Singapore has grown very wide over the years. In my opinion, it is truly a lack of social justice for the Government to allow corporations to pay their workers less than would be needed for their families to live a humble but decent life, and yet pay their top executives fat bonuses year in and year out. If corporations refuse to pay their workers a decent living wage, I feel they should also force their top executives to forgo their bonuses.
It must be remembered that the absence of a minimum wage leads to exploitation of not just local workers, but foreign workers as well.
The institution of a minimum wage in Singapore would not necessarily lead to businesses relocating their operations, because countries like China, India, Vietnam and Thailand have much lower cost structures even without us having a minimum wage. If businesses wished to relocate due to cost factors, they would have done so already, with or without minimum wages for employees.
Ultimately, I believe the question should boil down to the kind of society that we are trying to create and the kinds of businesses and models of free enterprise that we should encourage in Singapore. If a business or a corporation has to close shop simply because it is compelled to pay a minimum wage to its workers, perhaps we should ask if this is the kind of business or enterprise that we would like to see flourishing in Singapore. Shouldn’t we be compelling private enterprise to move up the value chain and reduce their dependence on cheap labour?
The Government believes that it is more practical to assist low income workers through tax relief or direct cash subsidies instead of instituting a minimum wage. However, these measures have thus far been quite ad hoc, and it is not clear whether low income families have been sufficiently helped by the Government in this regard.
Much more needs to be done to help our working class citizens secure jobs and lead a decent life, beginning with eliminating GST for essential items like food and giving them a head start in the job hunt against foreigners who neither have to serve National Service nor support their families in high-cost Singapore. In my view, a minimum wage would also go a long way toward helping them and would not be detrimental to our economy.
The Government has pursued a “growth at all cost” model of economic management that relies on the heavy import of foreign labour to depress wages at the lower end of the wage spectrum. This model of economic management is clearly unsustainable given the limits of population growth. It has benefitted GLCs and multi-national corporations whilst pushing working class citizens into economic hardship and despair. Until such policies change, the vaunted social cohesion that the Government keeps talking about will never be fully realized.
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Minimum wage close to highest since late 1970s
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/employment
New Zealand's minimum wage is still close to the highest it has been, as a proportion of the average wage, since the late 1970s.
It is also the second-highest of any developed country in relation to the median wage, although well below richer countries such as Australia in dollar terms.
The Council of Trade Unions says it reached as high as 83 per cent of the average wage in the heady days immediately after World War II when everyone was used to a fair share of the cake.
Although it slipped steadily through the post-war decades, it was hiked back up to 60 per cent of the average wage by the Kirk/Rowling Labour Government as late as 1975, and was still at 49 per cent three years later.
The Lange Labour Government raised it again in 1985, but only to 45 per cent of the average wage, and it slipped to a low of 39 per cent by 1997.
Helen Clark's Labour Government lifted it again in stages to 50 per cent of the average hourly wage by 2007. National's increase from $12 to $12.50 an hour last year was enough to hold it at 49 per cent of the average wage of $25.37.
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Minimum wage - the $15 question
try to google it
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In Singapore, the min. wage belongs to McD? $3.50 per hour lol
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wonder why you guys are still around here
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Originally posted by angel7030:
wonder why you guys are still around here
and we often wonder the same questions why you would want to come from Taiwan to Singapore....
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Actually hor, i dun want to come, i love taiwan more, the mountain and the clean air from the south pacific is great, life is simple there and peoples are gracious in a way, but beside the landslide, my english was no good, so Dad sent me to singapore on 2 purpose,
1st to study in Singapore, which i manage to complete a tertiary course
2nd to take care of his pub businese just in case my sister in laws take all his asset.
Hope you understand
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Not to mention you can also make lots of money selling bing lang 槟榔.
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And this, taiwan papaya MILK Shake...i can do it for you
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Of course the govt doesn't care for u, idiots.They will get more money from the 'imported talents'.
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China also recently increase its minimum wage. LOL.. Even China has it!
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after honda china protest and Fox com jumping down, china got no choice, singapore, even you go jump MRT they also dun care..haiz..i am a good employer, but how much can i help alone...
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Originally posted by angel7030:
after honda china protest and Fox com jumping down, china got no choice, singapore, even you go jump MRT they also dun care..haiz..i am a good employer, but how much can i help alone...
your staffs most of them foreigners that had no cpf, etcsign contract one
in case they ran off
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if you are the best employer around, who will be so stupid to run off...there is a big different between management and leadership ya, tho i am the management, but employed leadership way of managing ya.
People hates authority, they love a leader who understand them. In my study of management, i found that leadership management outshine those autocratic management who rule by laws and orders without remorse, our govt are behaving in such a way, tho they are suppose to be leaders.
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Originally posted by angel7030:
if you are the best employer around, who will be so stupid to run off...there is a big different between management and leadership ya, tho i am the management, but employed leadership way of managing ya.
People hates authority, they love a leader who understand them. In my study of management, i found that leadership management outshine those autocratic management who rule by laws and orders without remorse, our govt are behaving in such a way, tho they are suppose to be leaders.
thought you are lawyer trained
think you need to go back to taiwan to be nun again
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Minimum wage should be modified into the position in question. cleaner if say minimum is 500 bucks pm then it should be so. similarly for technicians say of its 1200~1800 then it should stay so. should not allow people to undercut technician to less than 1200 just inc ase any boss decide to hire a foreign talent that is talented at earning 900 pm as a technician. that's when employment become a problem for locals.
by the way angel you were great yesterday and last nite at your place. i really enjoyed taking photos of you and see you posign and expressing yourself. more events untold about the gathering yesterday but i wish we can meet again
