CREATING OUR OWN “FATE”
President, SG, CC Members, Brothers and Sisters and your partners, a very warm welcome to this year’s UNITE!
The NTUC-led LM has been a strong and responsible social partner in nation building. The economic progress and industrial peace that Singapore enjoyed over the past several decades is testament to the progressiveness of Singapore Union Leaders working within a Tripartite framework.
Our successful approach till now can be described by the letters of the word “FATE”.
F - Face the facts
A - Adapt
T - Track progress
E - Engage (Tripartite Partners, Management, Membership, stay relevant to engage changing profile of workforce)
In other words,
A Nothing happens by chance.
B We must look squarely at the changing environment and also value and learn from experience.
This will then help us think clearly to do better into the future.
The economic environment has become ever more complex and testy. Globalisation, technology change, rising aspirations, more diverse, cross-cultural and multi-generational workforce etc. The challenges of today and tomorrow will not be less than those of yesterday.
Hence, all the more, we must redouble our efforts to seek a better FATE.
To do this, a core ingredient that we must have is Strong Leadership that runs Strong Unions.
It is precisely because of this that the LM emphasises so much the need for a robust sustained pipeline of leaders, well equipped for continued good and principled service amid changing circumstances through the 3F approach.
I am happy to share with our progress in this critical area at this Annual Gathering of Union Leaders – UNITE.
Progress of 3F and Voice for Workers
Age profile - Comparing 2009 and 2013
55 years old and above decrease by 13%
Below 40 years old increase by 6%
The modal age has moved from around 58 years old to around 55 years old.
This bucks the trend between 2000 and 2009.
Size of Leadership Pool – Increased from around 5800 in 2009 to around 6200 in 2013, again bucking the trend between 2000 and 2009.
Beginning after NDC 2011, we now have 43 unions (72%) of affiliated unions with 88% of union leadership pool committed to the practice of 3F. This progress is further energised by the support of the NTUC 50 Fund. Already, 32 unions with 78% of the union leadership pool have applied for funding support to the NTUC 50 Fund to accelerate their 3F and other leadership development initiatives. We are certainly encouraged by this clear progress and will press on.
Not only have we improved our internal strength, union leaders have also made our Voice for Workers heard. Whether it is about higher pay for low wage workers or better ways to represent PMEs, improving re-employment terms and urging further reemployment efforts, securing better terms for women, or a level playing field for Singaporean jobseekers and decent treatment for migrant workers – the Voice of the Labour Movement is loud and clear.
Delegates at the recent pre-Ordinary Delegates Conference reviewed our progress thus far and agreed that we are headed in the right direction and must keep up our pace.
Next Steps
Leaders at that gathering also agreed that the LM should press on with efforts to further strengthen our administrative and compliance systems and procedures, in keeping with advancements in other sectors. Therefore, in the days ahead, NTUC and OTCi will organise more workshops and sharing of good practices to strengthen awareness and deepen understanding of requirements and benchmarks in such areas among affiliates.
Going forward, the NTUC and Ong Teng Cheong Labour Leadership Institute (OTC Institute) will further refine and enhance the development investments and initiatives for current high-level leaders at the Central Committee and L3 (Labour Leadership Lighthouse) levels as well as create a development circuit to dovetail exposure and participation opportunities for flow up leaders at both NTUC and affiliate levels. We will also examine the more strategic tapping of the stature and expertise of veteran leaders as we press on with transformation. Such investments will make the value-add of our union leaders even more pronounced at tripartite and bipartite levels, and will strengthen their recognition by our social partners.
Looking ahead, our effective Tripartism model built up over the decades will be tested against an increasingly volatile and uncertain operating environment. Things are moving very fast. One generation of tripartite leaders will also be succeeded progressively by another generation across different levels with the passage of time. How do we strengthen not only the individual pipelines of each of the social partners but also the combined strength and synergy of the social partnership? And would our current platforms for collaboration and problem-solving be sufficient or appropriate in the new environment, especially as different industries will face quite different circumstances? How should we face these facts and refresh and adapt Tripartism for the journey ahead, so that our FATE in the future will continue to be good?
We will discuss all these and build consensus at our forthcoming Ordinary Delegates Conference end of the month. But one thing is for sure. We must build on the firm foundation that we have laid, as we forge our way forward. And it is for this reason that OTC Institute embarked on an important e-book project to capture the valuable experience and sharing by our veteran LM leaders. This evening, we are happy to bring before this gathering of Leaders the inaugural edition of this e-book, featuring the sharing of experience of 12 veteran leaders well-known to all of us. This will kick start our e-collection of accumulated wisdom and insights within the LM, to light our paths and guide our way.
Thank you.
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