By Shukry Rashid
Mohd Yazid Idris, 53, joined the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) as a technician in 1982 and subsequently joined the Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority Workers’ Union (SURAWU) in 1985. After being with SURAWU for over 30 years, Yazid was recently elected as general secretary in June 2016.
Now a Higher Planning Executive in URA, Yazid recalled his rise and challenges as a SURAWU union leader.
NTUC This Week: How did you start your union journey?
Mohd Yazid Idris: A few years after I joined SURAWU, I was asked by our former general secretary Sung Seoh Ing to be a trustee of the union. I ended up being a trustee for three terms before becoming the assistant general treasurer in 2010. Ex-president Freddy Lim and ex-vice-president Lee Chit Seng had asked me to become an Exco (Executive Council) member in 2007 but I was hesitant as I was already involved in another volunteering project. I accepted their invitation when they asked me again in 2010, telling myself to embrace this challenge. I think they saw the commitment I had always put in whenever I do a task, where I always see it through to the end.
Any thoughts to share on becoming SURAWU general secretary?
The rise to general secretary was unexpected as there were other experienced Exco members as well. Support for my nomination came from senior Exco members, and through the guidance of the past president and general secretary. My main reason for accepting the nomination was the support from my family, and the level of involvement and commitment trusted upon me.
What do you think your main role is?
The tasks of general secretary will always differ from each individual union setup. But in a nutshell, I see it as mostly administrative and coordinating work of the union functions. Personally, I think all unionists have to do social work and need somebody to collate data and information before advising on the directional where the union is heading.
What challenges do you face as a union leader?
Meeting expectation of members will always be a challenge. We will always try our best to fight for them but things may not go as planned. As a statutory board, our human resources work differently as compared to the private sector. The way we raise issues for our workers may also be different from the union leaders in the private sector. Maintaining membership numbers will always be a challenge. Many of the younger workers would often leave the company for better opportunities and this affects our membership numbers as well.
What are 3 takeaways from union work so far?
Dealing with union grievances and issues, it has opened up my thinking towards myself as an individual, a colleague and a worker. First, it is important to be fair in judging and assessing of an issue as sometimes things are not what they seem to be. Second, try considering ourselves in the other person’s shoes so we do not make rash decisions. Through understanding the situation better, we are able to make a better forward decision. Third, if we stop believing in our cause in the union, we have no more role to play and would have reached the end of our journey.
Source: NTUC This Week
