By Marcus Lin
A union member ever since she started work at age 17 in 1972, Amalgamated Union of Public Employees (AUPE) Deputy General Secretary Noor Shyma Bte Abdul Latiff, 60, still exudes a youthful zest for union work.
NTUC This Week: How did you become a full-time unionist?
Ms Noor Shyma Bte Abdul Latiff: It was something I did not plan for. I was initially a union Branch member at Telecoms and after some persuasion I got involved in 1979 through the Women’s Committee and then the Branch Committee. I found some satisfaction because getting involved in the union helps you develop as a person. It increases your knowledge and builds up self-confidence. As you have to represent members, you need to speak well and make presentations.
I was also lucky because I had good mentors who coached me and I was given opportunities to do leadership training even before I was a full-time unionist. One thing led to another, and before I knew it I was offered full-time work at AUPE as an Industrial Relations Officer in 1985.
What work do you do now and how have things changed over the years?
My main area of work is industrial relations where I serve AUPE Branches and look into members’ grievances, besides their terms and conditions of employment. It is very different serving members now and when I first started. In the past, members were more concerned with bread and butter issues like whether they were paid correctly. Aspirations now are very different as they are more focused on career progression.
Now, our responsibility is not only solving members’ grievances but also preparing them to embrace the changing work environment where technology plays a very important part. Managing expectations is also a challenge as some assume that they are entitled to decent terms and benefits of employment without realising the hard work and negotiations that go on behind the scenes.
Apart from your work at AUPE, what else do you do?
When I worked full-time in AUPE I also sat in the NTUC Women’s Committee as the AUPE representative for many years. Among other things, the NTUC Women’s Committee gets more women involved in the Labour Movement, gets them into leadership positions and gets more women back to work to supplement the labour force.
AUPE is also affiliated to the Public Services International (PSI) which is a global union with a World Women’s Committee in which I am a Titular Member of Asia Pacific Region. I am also Chairperson of PSI - SEA Sub-Region Women’s Committee. For many years, I attended their meetings and participated in their workshops that talked about trade union rights, collective bargaining, decent pay and so on. It really opened my eyes as these are things that we take for granted in Singapore.
We have many benefits and privileges in Singapore and laws such as the Trade Unions Act, Industrial Relations Act and Employment Act that help us to negotiate with management. But in many other countries, they do not even have that legal framework to help them.
AN INSIDER’S GUIDE
Name: Amalgamated Union of Public Employees (AUPE).
When: 26 September 1959.
Why: To represent various grades of employees from the Civil Service and most statutory boards.
Numbers Now: 19,486 members as at 30 September 2015.
Did You Know: AUPE led the nurses’ 5-day strike in 1963. Nurses are now unionised under the Healthcare Services Employees’ Union (HSEU).
Source: NTUC This Week
