The Building Construction And Timber Industries Union (BATU) and its unionised company, CPG Facilities Management (CPGFM), have formed the latest company training committee (CTC).
Other unions and companies that have made similar moves to set up CTCs include the Healthcare Services Employees’ Union with the public hospitals through the Healthcare Academy, Food Drinks And Allied Workers’ Union with Ascott, and also the Port Officers’ Union with PSA Singapore.
Similar to the other CTCs, BATU and CPGFM will work together to identify and address skills gaps for workers in the facilities management industry.
Examples of sectors that make up the facilities management industry include landscaping, security, cleaning, and lift maintenance.
A memorandum of understanding was signed on 18 April 2019 to mark the partnership. The new CTC comprises union leaders from BATU and senior management from CPGFM.
The CTC between BATU and CPGFM is also the first in the facilities management industry, with the key intent to help workers attain new skills that will help them keep pace with industry transformation.
The CTC is in line with the Labour Movement’s focus on transforming workers in tandem with industry developments through the ground-up efforts, as announced by NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng in his Budget 2019 speech.
“The formation of the CTC with CPGFM is part of the Labour Movement’s efforts to make the Industry Transformation Maps real for our workers. It is important that companies work together with their unions to identify the skills needed for future jobs and effectively map these with the training required. Unions can value-add to our understanding of ground issues and have the ability to mobilise workers for training.
“We will continue to work with our unionised companies to set up more CTCs so that more workers can reap the rewards of industry transformation,” said BATU Executive Secretary Zainal Sapari.
Other unions and companies that have made similar moves to set up CTCs include the healthcare, hospitality, aerospace, engineering and port engineering industries.
CPGFM CEO Seng Joo How said that he is delighted to be working with BATU and NTUC to upskill the staff in his company so that they can remain digitally relevant and that they can be “at the top of their game.”
NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) will support the partnership in areas such as placement, productivity improvements as well as training.
For training, e2i will curate and create new bite-sized learning modules for CPGFM workers via the U Leap app.
CPGFM had also tapped e2i’s expertise when it implemented technology projects, such as the use of drones and autonomous floor scrubbers, to increase productivity for workers and enable them to move to higher-value jobs.
Beside e2i, the CTC will also tap the expertise of training providers such as NTUC LearningHub and National University of Singapore School of Continuing and Lifelong Education (SCALE) to conduct training-needs analysis, develop training frameworks, as well as design and curate relevant programmes in the area of facilities management
