Looking after Workers' Job Security

By Shukry Rashid

The Labour Movement will continue to take care of workers’ job security amidst some uncertainties in the economic outlook for 2016. This was said by NTUC Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) Cham Hui Fong during a media briefing on 22 January 2016 on the 2016 unionised sector outlook.

Retrenchment figures crept up in the unionised sector for 2015, with majority of the retrenchments coming from the manufacturing sector. 

“With seven consecutive quarters of contraction except for one quarter [in 2014 and 2015], and some 5 per cent contraction last year, we understand that workers are generally concerned on the outlook of that sector," she ASG Cham.

She added that we can still expect new and quality jobs coming in this manufacturing sector, and there is an urgency to ensure that our workers are equipped with the right and relevant skills to benefit from new growth sectors, such as advanced manufacturing.

Training and Upgrading

With retrenchment comes the worry of job security. ASG Cham said that workers should be proactive and capitalise on NTUC’s and the Government’s initiatives on training and upgrading.

“Training and upgrading – that is something which will never go wrong. Either be a master of the same job or always look for opportunities to upgrade yourself, whether in the same industry or in other industries,” said ASG Cham.

The Labour Movement also hopes that with SkillsFuture, and the various tripartite committees that were set up, it will propel the urgency that workers must continue to reinvent themselves. 

Direction Forward

Of the 900 active Collective Agreements in 2015, some 320 of them also stipulated provision for training and examination leave. But these are only for courses that are either supported by the companies or are relevant to their job scope.

ASG Cham said that this provision should be expanded, and the Labour Movement is working towards that.

“What we want to do is to really inculcate the training culture within the companies,” she said.

One example ASG Cham gave was for like-minded employers to send their employees for training to expand their breadth of skills and to improve their employability. 

She also urged employers to provide training or examination leave for employees to make use of initiatives like the SkillsFuture Credit, which can be utilised for training outside their current job scope. 

Jobs in Review 2015

How did 2015 go at the workplace, and where will the Labour Movement’s priorities lie next? We bring you a roundup.

By Shukry Rashid and Ryan Chan

The year 2015 was not a prosperous one, as a tight labour market saw a fall in annual increment, and with more workers displaced from jobs.

While the Labour Movement expects the tight labour market to remain unchanged in 2016 as the global economy slows down, it will look to continue its efforts for workers under Care, Fair and Grow.

More will also be done for workers, including Professionals, Managers and Executives (PMEs), who will one day form the majority of the workforce.

Jobs Outlook For 2016

• More businesses will be impacted by related cyclical or structural challenges, specifically sectors such as marine engineering, specialty chemicals and printing.
• For the first quarter of 2016, unionised companies may see retrenchments affecting some 234 workers.

Wage

• Based on a survey on unionised companies from various sectors, the unionised sector saw a slight dip in most employment benefits in 2015.
• There was an annual increment of 4 per cent on average in 2015, compared to 4.3 per cent in 2014.
• There was a slight increase of bonus payouts, at 2.98 months in 2015, compared to 2.89 months in 2014.
• 80 per cent of unionised companies surveyed had adopted the National Wages Council (NWC) recommendations by at least paying $60 built-in wage increase for low-wage workers earning $1,100 and below.
• Low-wage workers earning between $1,100 to $1,300 saw an average increment of 5.4 per cent.

Workers

• 2,512 workers from 45 unionised companies were retrenched in 2015, compared to 2,246 in 2014, representing an 11.8 per cent increase.
• The most retrenchments came from the manufacturing sector.
• The number of workers on a shorter work week increased from 1,323 in 2014 to 2,098 in 2015.
• 9 companies implemented a shorter work week due to a lower work volume compared to 5 companies in 2014.

Labour Movement’s Continued Efforts

• Despite an increased number of retrenchments, the Labour Movement was able to ensure workers received their due retrenchment packages.
• These workers were also helped by NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) to re-skill, receive training and to look for new jobs.
• Unions also negotiated for training grants paid by companies to support workers to pick up new skillsets.

Workplace Benefits

• Among the 900 active Collective Agreements (CAs), 99 per cent provided for death of immediate family members.
• 91 per cent provided marriage leave.
• 11 per cent provided eldercare leave and children sick leave.
• 9 per cent provided family-care leave.
• 6 per cent provided paternity leave, on top of the Government-paid 1 week paid leave.
• 320 CAs also provide training/examination leave for workers to go on training.

Helping More Workers

• There was a total of 2,851 industrial relations cases, up from 1,953 in 2014.
• For Ordinary Branches 90 per cent of these cases were settled at union-management level, with the rest referred to the Ministry of Manpower or the Industrial Arbitration Court.
• For General Branches, the number of enquiries from PMEs saw a 72 per cent jump from 424 in 2014 to 729 in 2015.

Source: NTUC This Week