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Take care of those who take care of us: NMP Raj Joshua Thomas on outsourced workers

Nominated Member of Parliament Raj Joshua Thomas, 41, addresses Parliament on Thursday, 25 February 2021. (SCREENGRAB: Ministry of Communications and Information YouTube channel)
Nominated Member of Parliament Raj Joshua Thomas, 41, addresses Parliament on Thursday, 25 February 2021. (SCREENGRAB: Ministry of Communications and Information YouTube channel)

SINGAPORE — Outsourced workers such as cleaners and security officers deserve designated rest areas, said Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Raj Joshua Thomas on Thursday (25 February).

"We continue to see cleaners taking their breaks at basement carparks of shopping malls, resting and eating their meals at bin centres at condominiums, or having no areas to rest at all, or even to place their belongings. I imagine, Sir, that resting, and eating at bin centres or at cooler pump rooms would have an effect on our workers’ health and safety, not to mention their dignity," said Thomas, who was delivering his maiden speech during the Parliamentary debate on Budget 2021.

Outsourced workers are employed by a service provider such as a cleaning company, but deployed to a service buyer’s premises, such as a shopping centre or condominium.

Thomas, who is also President of the Security Association Singapore, cited an incident in January 2020 when an ultra-luxury condominium along Grange Road refused to allow outsourced workers to use any toilet in the condominium. This was because residents complained that these workers had dirtied the condominium toilets.

Instead, the Management Corporation Strata Title (MCST), which manages compounds with multiple owners that share common facilities, installed a portable toilet in a secluded area of the basement carpark for the workers to use. The toilet was not well lit and abutted a forested area, according to Thomas, who visited the site.

"Even worse, there was no water pumped to the toilet on the weekends. Workers had to scoop water from a dustbin outside the portable toilet to bring in with them, in order to flush the toilet and wash their hands," said the 41-year-old. The workers were eventually allowed to use the gym toilet during Singapore's partial lockdown, when the pandemic set in.

The portable toilet installed at a high-end condominum, and the portable bin filled with water used to flush it. (PHOTO: Raj Joshua Thomas)
The portable toilet installed at a high-end condominum, and the portable bin filled with water used to flush it. (PHOTO: Raj Joshua Thomas)

Thomas acknowledged that this example was an outlier, noting that furniture retailer Ikea provides "excellent rest areas" for all their workers. "Ikea is, unfortunately, also an outlier and the reality at most sites is somewhere in between. Sadly, the norm is nearer to the portable toilet example than the Ikea exemplar."

Thomas noted that under the Workplace Safety and Health Act (or the WSHA), a service buyer at whose premises outsourced workers are deployed is treated as an employer, with all the duties and responsibilities incumbent on an employer under the Act. This mean that service buyers and service providers share responsibility for outsourced workers at site.

Alluding to a 2020 parliamentary announcement that a workfare grant would be launched to support building owners and employers to provide rest areas for outsourced workers, Thomas asked for an update on the status of the grant and urged the enactment of legislation to make it compulsory for all property owners to provide designated rest areas for their outsourced workers.

"An important part of our social compact has to be a commitment to take care of the people who take care of us. It must become part of our culture," said Thomas.

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