He started off his union work 26 years ago in the care and share committee of the previous POSB Employees Union (POSBEU).
As a general secretary of DBS Staff Union (DBSSU) since 2015, 55-year-old Raymond Quek continues to focus his work on caring and sharing by encouraging members to keep up with changing times at work and prepare for the digital age. DBSSU has 8,700 members.
NTUC This Week: What does lifelong learning mean to you?
Raymond Quek: Never stop learning, that is what I believe. Whatever challenges that come my way, I will embrace them and get ready for them, whether at work or in the course of my union duties. For example, I am currently interested in courses relating to industrial relations. I need to study this subject deeper so that I can help our workers better when they come to the union with issues, especially those faced by professionals, managers and executives (PMEs).
Q: In what ways does the union encourage members to prepare for future jobs in the banking sector?
A: As DBS is speeding up its digitalisation efforts, we need to engage our members more on the overall restructuring, and at times we do it with the individual business units. Key to this is encouraging them to change their mindset, embrace changes in technology and go for re-skilling and up-skilling to remain employable. At the same time, we work closely with our HR partner and management to explore programmes for training and upskilling. We have also been invited to sit on the Bank’s SkillsFuture Committee. I have constantly encouraged our members to take up courses offered by the bank and NTUC LearningHub (LHUB).
Q: What are some of the issues and grievances members come to you with?
A: Some are simple to handle, that require just advice and coaching for the member. Others are more complex, especially when mistakes have been made that create a potential risk to the bank. There was a case where a member had erroneously misfiled some important documents. This led to more serious complications when the documents were needed for legal purposes and could not be found. She became very fearful of losing her job and sought the union’s help.
We accompanied her to see her manager and sought the management’s understanding as she was new in the role. We requested for some time to search for the documents. With the help of another colleague, the documents were subsequently found. This is just one example of an issue that we have helped resolve. We must have a listening ear. When there is a strong case, we want to hand hold the member and represent them and make sure they are treated fairly.
Q: What keeps you going at your union work?
A: It is my passion for the Labour Movement and what I can do best for our union members and the bank.
Source: NTUC This Week
