All Inclusive Labour Movement Serving All CAN, 3-GEN Members.
NTUC rewards loyal members aged 65 years and above.
700,000 All C.A.N Members and Growing
The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) is proud to welcome its 700,000th member as it celebrates this milestone achievement at the U Summit 2012 event. Just one year ago, NTUC reached the Labour Movement 2011 (LM 2011) vision of 650,000 3-Gen members, six months before the end of 2011. The LM 2011 vision was unveiled in August 2006 as it set out to be an all-inclusive labour movement, serving the needs of its members at different life stages in the areas of work, live and play.
The LM crossed the half million membership mark in 2007. Membership grew by 3.5 per cent to 528,000 in 2008 through the collective recruitment efforts of unions, NTUC Social Enterprises and partners. The financial crisis in 2009 did not dampen the growth of NTUC membership, as it reached 540,000 with various schemes rolled out to help workers and their families through the difficult times. By the end of 2010, the LM saw the strongest membership growth since 2007. Membership hit 615,000 as nEbO becomes the junior membership of the LM. Today, with 700,000 members, the LM will be rolling out more initiatives to serve the varying needs of members at different life stages as we move closer to 1 million members by 2015. (Refer to Annex A)
1 Million Members Is Not A Number Game
While the LM has set its vision to serve 1 million members by 2015, the core objective for setting this goal is in fact to reach out to as many members as possible, so that more members and their families can benefit from the initiatives and services offered by the LM. The LM family consist of over 7,000 union leaders representing the interests of our members, 4 communities offering different programmes to meet the different life stages of our members and 12 social enterprises and more than 500 merchant partner touch-points to help our members stretch their dollars at all live and play aspects of their lives.
Union membership represents more than just a number. In fact, it represents real members who need support and care from the LM. A larger membership base would also mean a stronger LM that can better represent its members with a stronger voice in the areas of work, live and play. We hope that with our support, all members and their families will be able to have better living and live a better life.
Membership Profile
The 700,000 NTUC members today are made up of members of all collars, ages and nationalities. As we move towards a knowledge-based economy made up of a more educated workforce, we are also seeing a steady growth of members made up of Professionals, Managers and Executives (PMEs). PMEs members made up 23 per cent of our membership today compared to 20 per cent in 2009. PMEs member grow at about 10% from 130,000 in 2010 to over 160,000 in 2012.
U Associate Scheme
The U Associate scheme was launched in 2011 to extend the LM’s reach to existing professional associations, alumni clubs etc. U Associate membership is expected to reach 10,000 by the end of 2012. Today, there are five associations under the U Associate scheme. The newest member is Adam Khoo Learning Technologies Group. Through U Associate, LM strives to engage and know the PMEs members better, even as these members enjoy the convenience of dual privileges, under one membership.
Professional Chapters
Besides the U Associate scheme, affiliated unions have also set up professional chapters to better meet the needs of their PME members. The recent being the Professional Chapter which was set up for tour guides so that the LM can help them address the challenges faced by this group of professionals and freelancers.
Steady Membership Growth
NTUC Membership continues to attract the young and old as membership for nEbO, Young NTUC, U Live continue to grow steadily. nEbO members grew from just 20,000 in 2009 to 60,000 in 2012, Young NTUC members also grew 24 per cent from 120,000 in 2009 to 170,000 in 2012 while U Live members aged 55 years and above grew 36 per cent from 80,000 in 2009 to 125,000 in 2012. (Refer to Annex A).
U65+: Rewarding loyal members with special rebates
In appreciation of the loyalty and long term membership that our members have with us, some unions affiliated to NTUC will be rolling out a U65+ membership pilot scheme to reward members aged 65 years and above annually from January 2013 onwards. Any members aged 65 years and above and have a membership tenure of 10 to 19 years will be able to enjoy two months worth of membership fee rebates yearly, those who are members for 20 to 29 years will enjoy four months worth of membership fee rebate every year while those who have been with the LM for 30 years or more will enjoy six months worth of membership fee rebates annually. The U65+ scheme seek to recognise and reward members with lifelong membership. More & more unions are coming on-board before the pilot goes live on 1st Jan 2013 - over 10 unions have already pledged their support to the U65+ scheme.
U Summit 2012
Healthy membership growth would not be possible without the strong support and concerted efforts of our unions and partners. At the U Summit 2012 event, 21 unions were recognised for their relentless efforts in recruiting, retaining and strengthening the relationship with members.
This year, the top award, U Champion, goes to four unions that have the Highest Net Increase in Membership. The four unions are the Port Officers’ Union, the Keppel Employees Union, the Healthcare Services Employees’ Union and the Singapore Industrial & Services Employees’ Union. Each union was awarded with the top prize of $5,000 cash and a trophy for their recruitment efforts.
Beside unions, 13 merchant partners were also awarded with the U Partner Award in recognition of their valuable contributions to the LM as they bring forth privileges and services especially for union members. (Refer to Annex B for details on U Summit Awards).
Mr Vivek Kumar, Director, NTUC Membership said, “NTUC Membership strives to be future-ready. PMEs now account for over 70% of new entrants to Singapore workforce. We are engaging thousands of PMEs through new channels such as U Associate & Union Professional Chapters. Our PME member base has grown strongly from 130,000 in 2010, to over 160,000 in 2012. On the other hand, with an ageing society, we seek to create Lifelong NTUC Membership by introducing rebates under the U65+ program. Together with extended insurance coverage up to 75 years of age for NTUC Members, we aim to support our members from teenage till they comfortably retire!”
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