Joanne Chua is a 47-year-old purchasing supervisor in a logistics company.
She has been with Singapore Industrial & Services Employees’ Union (SISEU) for the last 15 years and became the President in August 2016.
SISEU is the second largest union in Singapore and its members from 180 branches come from many sectors including aerospace, retail, textile, logistics, printing and real estate. The union has 82,000 members.
NTUC This Week: What has your union journey been like with SISEU?
Joanne Chua : I started off as a member of the union before being approached by SISEU to come into the executive council as its internal auditor. Over the years I moved up to be a committee member and thereafter the Assistant General Secretary. In August 2016 I became the President of SISEU.
Q:What are some of your responsibilities in such a large union?
I have to be well versed with the challenges faced by the many industries that we represent. Our big membership base also means we have more cases and issues to look into, from tackling bread and butter issues facing members in restructuring companies, to working on partnerships with freelancers in the real estate sector.
Q: What challenges will SISEU be likely to face in the next three to five years?
SISEU has members from several industries which are not doing as well of late . For example, the printing and textile industries are at a make or break stage. They must be able to refresh their workplaces with the latest technology to attract new customers. Meanwhile, other industries doing well need to re-examine their productivity improvement efforts to be competitive. The challenge for SISEU is to ensure that our workers continue to upskill to be relevant. For workers who face the risk of being made redundant, the union will look out for opportunities for them to take on the jobs of tomorrow.
Q: What steps are SISEU taking to press home the importance of lifelong learning?
At the national level, we are working with various partners in the Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs) for some key industries to provide feedback from the ground to make sure workers are prepared to take on the challenges. At the branch level, where possible, we are pushing for members to be given training leave to attend courses, including SkillsFuture approved courses.
Q: What do you like about your union work?
I like the opportunity to interact with many leaders in the unions and businesses. That way, I am able to better understand their thoughts on various issues which in turn helps me in handling work-related issues when they crop up.
Q: When it comes to helping members, has there been an incident that touched you the most?
I had an office colleague who passed away three years ago from cancer. When he was suffering, my office was kind enough to grant him one year’s paid leave. He was grateful for that, and in fact, came back to work for a while. Unfortunately he suffered a relapse and died. The company also gave his family a lump sum of money for his children to see through their education. I am glad SISEU was able to play a part in helping the family tide over their difficult period.
Source: NTUC This Week
