A changing business environment, employment landscape, workers’ needs and continuous work on the future of tripartism – these were the challenges outlined by NTUC Secretary-General (SG) Chan Chun Sing at a press conference on the first day of the NTUC National Delegates’ Conference (NDC).
SG Chan spoke about the importance of meeting the needs of workers in an evolving labour workforce, against the Labour Movement’s vision towards 2019 of Care, Fair and Grow.
“One of the challenges faced is how the Labour Movement can take care of workers in a fluid, dynamic environment. The younger generation PMEs (Professional, Managers and Executives) for example look for career advancement, development and networking opportunities,” said SG Chan.
Delving Deeper
Held at Downtown East, the quadrennial event saw a total of 800 union leaders and representatives from the NTUC social enterprises gather to discuss the issues the Labour Movement faces.
Some of the hurdles include how to ensure workers have better care. A changing employment landscape has seen the introduction of the Progressive Wage Model, but a number of employers are still resisting the need to send workers to upskill themselves. There is also an unwillingness to send mature workers for training.
A changing employment landscape has seen the introduction of robotics, which may see workers displaced. Simultaneously, there may also be a shortage of highly skilled workers, leading to structural unemployment.
The delegates also raised issues surrounding fairness for workers, such as strengthening the Singaporean core and offering fair re-employment to mature workers who turn 62.
On top of these issues, the importance of growing the Labour Movement’s outreach was also underlined to ensure workers continue to have a greater voice. Union membership is expected to hit 900,000 by the end of 2015.
Staying Ahead
Despite the challenges, SG Chan is confident of the future of the Labour Movement.
He said: “NTUC has to respond and stay ahead of the challenges and prepare our workers to be future-ready, to ensure their skillsets are not only relevant today, but also for tomorrow. This is so that our workers can continue to form one of the most competitive workforce in the whole world.”
Source: NTUC This Week
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- NDC 2015 Day 1:NTUC Secretary-General Releases Report At NDC 2015
- NTUC Sec-Gen Report 2015 (English)
- Our NTUC National Delegates' Conference 2015 coverage online
