Mr President, the Singapore National Trades Union Congress delegation joins other delegates to congratulate you on being elected to preside over the 93rd Session of the International Labour Conference.
Promoting Youth Employment
Mr President, we welcome the timely discussion at this ILC to address the challenge of youth employment.
In its 2005 Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) reported an estimated 38 million young people aged 15 to 24 are unemployed in Asia. Of these, 10 million are in Southeast Asian countries. With 10 million unemployed youth, there are about five jobless youths for every unemployed adult in the region.
In preparation for these discussions, NTUC jointly organized a forum with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions – Asia Pacific Regional Organisation.(ICFTU-APRO) for young union leaders from 21 countries in the Asia-Pacific in April, to share experiences and ideas on what should and can be done to tackle the challenge of youth in employment and how trade unions can be involved.
In Singapore, our challenge is to ensure that our formal education system is able to equip our young men and women with the necessary skills set to meet the new demands of a global labour market. As labour-intensive manufacturing jobs shifted to China and other countries, we have had to work harder at creating new jobs. Our priority has been to create better paying jobs, for example in high-tech, higher value-add industries like the life sciences, nanotechnology, chemicals and pharmaceutical.
To effectively meet the needs of the new generation of workers, trade unions must evolve and offer services beyond traditional union protection. To attract more young workers to join and become involved in the labour movement, the Singapore National Trades Union Congress has launched the “Young NTUC”, a new labour youth wing, during this year’s May Day celebrations.
While youth employment and involvement of youth in unions are key concerns, we must, of course, also continue to address the needs of matured workers. Many are in low wage jobs or unemployed because they lack the necessary skills to compete in a globalising world economy. In Singapore, the priority of trade unions continues to be on job creation and employment, with accessible and affordable education, skills training, and social security.
Occupational Safety and Health
Mr President, it is essential that attention be focused on one of the most fundamental rights at work, occupation safety and health. Each year, over 2 million workers die from unsustainable forms of work and another 160 million more are victims of work-related diseases. The development of a new ILO instrument to promote and enhance occupation safety and health will play an important role addressing this issue..
In Singapore, the labour movement is urging our government to look deeper into the work systems of companies and to review the safety training framework for workers, in consultation with employers and trade unions. Ensuring safety and health at the workplace is our shared responsibility.
We welcome our government’s commitment to halve Singapore’s present occupational fatality rate by the year 2015 by introducing a new occupational safety and health legal framework to boost safety at Singapore workplaces.
A safe working environment is not just about having a safety management system at work, or simply employing a safety officer. It is, more fundamentally, about showing respect for workers’ lives – an obligation which all employers must fulfill. A worker’s life should not come at the expense of short cuts to achieve economic efficiency.
Ratification of C138 on Minimum Age
Mr President, the Singapore labour movement welcomes our government’s intention to ratify the ILO Convention 138 on Minimum Age by end of this year. Singapore will now have ratified 5 of the 8 core ILO conventions. While urging the ratification of more conventions, we will continue to review our laws and practice to ensure that the fundamental principles and rights at work are upheld.
Conclusion
Mr President, it is the shared responsibility of governments, employers and trade unions to ensure that the social dimension of globalisation is adequately addressed.
The ILO is the only international organization that brings together the tripartite social partners to engage in meaningful dialogue and cooperation. We must all be committed to achieve real progress in ensuring the continued protection and enhancement of the welfare of the hundreds of millions of workers in the world.
Thank you.
