There is no collective agreement (CA) between the Union of ITE Training Staff (UITS) and its management but that has not stopped both sides from developing a strong partnership, said UITS Deputy General Secretary (GS) N. Thiruchelvan.
He received the Comrade of Labour Award 2017 for his 27 years in UITS. He has been the Deputy GS since 2003 and turns 60 this year.
He also serves on the NTUC Education Cluster. We catch up with the union leader, who is a senior lecturer in electrical engineering, to find out about his journey with the Labour Movement.
UITS has nearly 1500 members and most of them are teaching staff.
NTUC This Week: Tell us about the role you play in the NTUC Education Cluster?
N.Thiruchelvan: I provide feedback on training programmes and courses in Institute of Technical Education (ITE) and address issues that cut across various educational institutions. These include demographic changes to the enrolment rate at institutions. The NTUC Education Cluster has also been exploring ways to equip union members with skills to stay employable and making their current skillset portable. This is especially important as we look towards creating a future-ready workforce that embraces lifelong learning. Lifelong learning is very important for UITS members since they are mostly lecturers. It helps them to stay abreast with current times and to continuously improve their skills for their teaching profession.
Q: What is your personal approach and attitude towards upskilling and lifelong learning.
A: I personally feel that upskilling and lifelong learning provides me with better career opportunities. I have taken courses on topics like video editing to improve my technical knowledge. Lifelong learning has indeed made me a better person today, giving me the confidence that I will be able to overcome the challenges of tomorrow.
Q: What are some of UITS’ key priorities at the moment?
A: Firstly, helping our members to remain relevant and be employable. We have held dialogues and during these sessions we encourage them to take advantage of the Union Training Assistance Programme (UTAP) and attend SkillsFuture courses. Next is to prepare our senior members to be re-employed. For this, we have been collaborating with our HR department to conduct Re-employment Preparedness Programmes since 2015. The third is leadership renewal in UITS. It is always a challenge to get young members to come on board to the executive and branch committees and we are working hard on this.
Q: How have you personally assisted union members in times of need.
A: One of our members had faced difficulties in securing a placement as a lecturer despite meeting all the required qualifications. The union stepped forward to render him assistance and support. I spoke to his immediate supervisor to understand what his concerns were. The supervisor said the individual’s communication skills did not meet expectations. Our union made arrangements for the member to enrol in a communication skills course and this helped him improve tremendously. He was subsequently offered the lecturer’s post.
Source: NTUC This Week
