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Helping low-wage workers in S'pore climb the wage ladder
To raise the salaries of cleaners, the Government has accepted a proposal to progressively raise the basic monthly pay of Singaporeans and permanent residents working in outsourced cleaning jobs from $1,236 currently to $2,420 in July 2028. Insight examines the bold move.
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Mr Lim Goh Heng at work at The Orchard Residences on May 19, 2021. He now earns just over $2,000 a month – an increase which he attributes to the Progressive Wage Model.
ST PHOTO: YONG LI XUAN
Charmaine Ng, Jolene Ang
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SINGAPORE - It was slim pickings for gardener Lim Goh Heng when he joined the landscape maintenance sector in 2010 but his prospects have blossomed somewhat, thanks to a trade union initiative that is changing workers' lives across the island.
There is no doubt Mr Lim and others like him needed a helping hand. His pay in 2010 was $700 a month, putting him among the bottom 20 per cent of Singaporean earners.
