Forum: Information on tripartite efforts in security industry available on MHA website, Forum News & Top Stories

We refer to the Forum letter “More can still be done for security sector” (June 25).

We are surprised that Mr Liu Fook Thim has claimed that the tripartite partners do not agree with what needs to be done for the security industry.

The Progressive Wage Model (PWM) for the security industry was launched in 2014 and implemented from 2016.

The PWM comprises not just a wage ladder, but also skills, productivity and career ladders.

The industry launched the security industry transformation map in 2018. This looked at transforming the sector, and a key pillar is to encourage outcome-based contracting.

The intention was to address market failures where buyers bargained down contracts which were specified by headcount.

This is an outmoded way of procuring security contracts as it ignores the most important intention of buying such service in the first place – good security outcomes.

The Security Association Singapore (SAS) had responded to an earlier letter which asked for wages in the PWM to be lowered.

We agree that lowering wages is the wrong thing to do. This has led to many years of depressed wages until we implemented the PWM.

The right thing to do is to change how security services are procured. This has been the joint tripartite position for many years and was enshrined in the document, Guide On Outcome-Based Security Contracts, that is available on the Ministry of Home Affairs website.

The guide is led by the ministry, and supported by the National Trades Union Congress, Union of Security Employees, SAS and the Association of Certified Security Agencies.

Mr Liu has himself been involved in industry events as a panellist and participant, and we encourage him to contact any of the tripartite stakeholders to get regular updates on the developments in the industry.

Ardi Amir

President

Union of Security Employees

Raj Joshua Thomas

President

Security Association Singapore

John Vijayan

President

Association of Certified Security Agencies