By Ramesh Subbaraman
In a statement issued today, NTUC President Diana Chia said NTUC Secretary-General (SG) Lim Swee Say had tendered his resignation from the NTUC Central Committee on 30 March 2015. His resignation has been accepted.
The NTUC Central Committee met on 8 April 2015 and unanimously elected NTUC Deputy Secretary-General Chan Chun Sing to take over the helm as NTUC’s Secretary-General with effect from 4 May 2015.
DSG Chan joined NTUC on 23 January 2015 on a part-time basis and has been serving the Labour Movement on a full-time basis from 1 April 2015. He will be Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office with effect 9 April 2015.
He was co-opted into the NTUC Central Committee and appointed as Deputy Secretary-General under NTUC’s Constitution on 27 January 2015.
Selfless Leadership
NTUC President Chia said the NTUC Central Committee, union leaders and staff of the Labour Movement thanked SG Lim for his selfless leadership and friendship and for making the Labour Movement stronger and more resilient to serve workers even better.
In a letter to SG Lim, she noted: “Helping workers earn a better living and live a better life has been your mission in the Labour Movement.
“You inspired many a union leader and staff to stay positive and to always do our best to help our workers and their families.
“Together, we steered the Labour Movement to be pro-worker and pro-business as we believe that the best welfare for a worker is a job and the best protection for a worker is full employment.”
Flowing On
In his letter to the Central Committee, SG Lim said the time had come for him to step down as Secretary-General of the NTUC.
“I am thankful for the privilege of serving workers, members and unions alongside the 6,000 union leaders and activists. The journey towards better jobs, better careers and better lives for all workers is a journey with no end.
“I am flowing-on but never flowing-out. I will always support the cause of the Labour Movement and the tripartite partners, knowing that to be pro-worker is to be pro-business, and to be pro-business is to be pro-worker. We are in this together,” said SG Lim.
SG Lim first joined the Labour Movement in 1996. He left in 1999 to go back to the government and returned to NTUC in 2004.
SG Lim then succeeded Mr Lim Boon Heng as Secretary-General in January 2007.
Source: NTUC This Week
Click here to read SG Lim's resignation letter
Click here to read President Diana Chia's letter of acceptance
Here are SG Lim's thoughts from his Facebook page:
"I first joined NTUC in 1996, 18 years ago. I am stepping down as NTUC Secretary General on 4 May. My years in serving the interest of our workers were certainly the most meaningful period of my working life.
I am flowing ON from NTUC, but not flowing OUT of tripartism. Chun Sing is learning fast and working well with the ground. The labour movement will grow stronger under his leadership. As for me, I am grateful to be assigned to MOM. Chuan-Jin has done much to re-tune our manpower policy to reposition our economy and Re-skilling our workers. I will build on the solid foundation laid by him to help our people of all ages to pursue fulfilling careers.
I assure my fellow unionists that I will continue to be pro-worker. And I also assure our management partners that I will be pro-business too. After all, the two are not necessary in conflict. They are the two sides of a same coin. Mutually reinforcing, we can continue our journey towards a healthier economy, a more progressive society and a better Singapore for all.
I look forward to strengthening Singapore Tripartism in my new capacity. Together, I am confident we can get there."
Here are DSG Chan's thoughts from his Facebook page:
"Brother Swee Say’s belief that a job is the best welfare and full employment is the best protection for our workers has led him to make a positive impact in the lives and livelihood of our workers.
In his 8 years with Labour Movement (LM) as Sec Gen, brother Swee Say has helped workers with employment and employability through various initiatives and programmes such as Skills Re-development and Job Re-creation. The establishment of the Devan Nair Institute for Employment and Employability is testament of his dedication to our workers.
He has also worked with specific groups to ensure their interests are protected, such as Re-employment for mature workers, Progressive Wage for Outsourced Contract Workers, individual and collective representation of PMEs, as well as ensuring our Migrant Worker’s welfare through the establishment of our Migrant Worker’s Centre.
He proved his mettle in 2009 when the global financial crisis brought various economies to its knees, his leadership and strong tripartite relationship has cushioned the impact on Singaporeans. As he rallied the workers together, he also persuaded employers to agree to cut costs to save jobs and government responded with measures to help businesses keep jobs for our workers.
With brother Swee Say’s leadership, union membership has also grown and the target to double the number of members to 1 million is within reach by 2016.
Labour Movement has been made stronger with Brother Swee Say’s selfless leadership, and we will continue to build on his work. Thank you brother Swee Say, for your labour of love."
