Beyond unemployment - Labour Movement also Target Employment and Under-Employment
29 January 2008
Media Release
1 Better than ever – the Labour Movement wants to play its part in helping Singapore’s workers and economy do even better than other countries in 2008, albeit a sterling economic performance for Singapore in 2007. This is the main focus of the Labour Movement’s workplan as we prepare for a challenging and uncertain year ahead.
2 Faced with recession fears in the United States and Europe, which would have repercussions on Asia; keener competition from regional countries like China and India; and inflationary pressures including rising fuel and food prices, the Labour Movement strongly believes that Singapore must stay focussed on doing even better in 2008 to give its economy an competitive edge over other countries.
3 Doing better is critical as it means giving Singapore’s workers and economy the resilience and strength needed to quickly rebound should the global economic landscape take a turn for the worse. On the other hand, should the global economy do well, Singapore’s workers can ride further and higher on the waves of progress through better skills, better jobs and better pay so that they and their families can lead better lives. Thus, while Singapore has enjoyed high GDP growth, high employment, low unemployment and low retrenchment in 2007, the Labour Movement wants to continue working closely with our tripartite partners to help Singapore’s workers and economy do even better in 2008.
4 To do so, the Labour Movement will focus on a three-pronged strategy of raising the employment rate, lowering the unemployment rate and reducing under-employment. This can be achieved by giving workers and those currently not in the workforce better skills, better jobs and better pay, so that they can cope with any challenges, including rising cost of living, better than workers in other countries. (Please see ANNEX A for key statistics from the workplan.)
5 As an inclusive Labour Movement, we are also focusing our efforts in 2008 on relationship-building, particularly community building and development, which forms one of the key cornerstones of our “3R” union membership strategy of Recruitment, Retention and Relationship. These relationship-building efforts will help steer the Labour Movement towards achieving 560,000 union members by end of 2008, and one million union members by 2015.
6 While the Labour Movement has helped many union members and workers over the years, we may have outgrown our image, causing a gap between what we are today and will be tomorrow, and what the general public perceived us to be. Thus, we will be embarking on a rebranding effort to communicate our new brand vision so that our union members, workers, tripartite partners and Singaporeans can better relate to and share our vision and mission in helping them at work, live and play.
7 In conclusion, we will be working closely with the tripartite partners to do well, do good, do together, and do more for our union members and workers at work, live, and play in 2008!
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ANNEX A
Key Statistics
To help lower the unemployment rate, raise the employment rate and reduce under-employment, the Labour Movement will work closely with the tripartite partners to assist those who are currently in employment and not in the workforce by helping them get better skills, better jobs and better pay.
Lowering Unemployment Rate
In 2008, we aim to help a total of 8,000 (2007: 7,757) unemployed look for jobs in more sectors so as to lower the unemployment rate. These include:
i) Assisting 7,000 (2007: 7,339) unemployed find jobs through various employment assistance avenues like Job Re-creation Programme, Place & Train programmes and Careerlink.
ii) Assisting 1,000 (2007: 418) mature Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians enhanced their employability and developed new career paths in various sectors like logistics, tourism and call centre through the Professional Conversion Programme.
Raising Employment Rate
Through re-employment, re-deployment and back to work initiatives, we want to help a total of 8,000 (2007: 4,311) mature Singaporeans stay in employment, workers affected by business restructuring keep their jobs and women get back to work respectively, to give boost to the employment rate. These include:
i) Committing 600 (2007: 381) companies to re-employing 5,000 (2007: 3,345) retired workers and achieving at least 70% (2007: more than 70%) re-employment rate for retired workers.
ii) Helping 1,000 (2007: 524) workers who risk losing their jobs because of business restructuring re-skill and be redeployed within the same or to different companies.
iii) Reaching out to 10,000 (2007: 5,000) women and helping 2,000 (2007: 352) get back to work.
Reducing Under-employment
We will also help those who are under-employed – those in employment but earning low pay – get better skills, better jobs and better pay. These include:
i) Assisting 19,000 under-employed (2007: 14,705) with skills and job upgrading, so that they can upgrade their careers and earn better pay through Job Re-creation Programme and industry re-development efforts.
ii) Assisting 12,000 (2007: 9,500) casual and contract workers in more sectors, including manufacturing and logistics, by getting them on the Central Provident Fund to secure the Workfare Income Supplement, providing them with better medical benefits, and giving them better jobs, better skills and better pay through Best Sourcing Initiative efforts.
iii) Helping workers in the service industry – 5,200 (2007: 3,700) retail, shopping malls, F&B establishments and public transport sectors, earn higher pay through better quality of services under the Customer-Centric Initiative.
To achieve a union membership of 560,000 by end 2008, we will focus on the “3R” union membership strategies of Recruitment, Retention and Relationship this year, particularly on community building and development. Some of the communities include:
i) “Mummy & Me” – for mothers, fathers and their children – which aims to have 12,000 (2007: 9,064) members in 2008.
ii) “nEbO” – a club for the young by the young – which has set a membership target of 18,000 (2007: 10,150) in 2008.
iii) “Young NTUC” – the Labour Movement’s youth chapter – which has set out to energise 6,000 (2007: 3,000) Youth Activists in 2008.
iv) A community of active senior citizens, which involves reaching out to 100,000 seniors, and engaging and building relationships with 16,000 of them.
