Marina Bay Sands and the Attractions, Resorts and Entertainment Union (AREU) inked a milestone partnership today, as both parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will see a bulk of Marina Bay Sands’ workforce being offered membership into AREU.
The win-win outcome follows extensive discussions between Marina Bay Sands and AREU with the common objective of ensuring the welfare and well-being of workers. The MOU will see both sides working together in a consultative and progressive partnership, and will result in general branch membership being offered to about 7,500 of Marina Bay Sands’ eligible rank-and-file, professional and security employees. This makes up about 83 per cent of Marina Bay Sands’ total workforce of over 9,000 employees.
The partnership between Marina Bay Sands and AREU will enhance the social and recreational benefits of Marina Bay Sands employees and create an additional platform to forward constructive labour-management relations. As part of the MOU, a Managed General Branch (MGB) Committee will be set up by eligible employees who are members under a General Branch arrangement, under AREU which is affiliated to the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).
The MGB Committee will discuss issues pertinent to employees such as additional training and skills upgrading to help continue to boost work productivity and raise service levels. It will also be an additional channel to facilitate interactions between employees and management on workplace issues.
Both Marina Bay Sands and AREU are in agreement that collective bargaining is not the objective of this collaboration.
Membership fees will be paid for by Marina Bay Sands as a benefit for employees. Like other NTUC members, Marina Bay Sands Team Members will be eligible for benefits such as NTUC FairPrice cash rebates, free group insurance coverage, grants for training and discounts on movie tickets, in addition to the staff perks they already enjoy through the integrated resort’s Sands Exclusives programme that includes property-wide discounts, free exercise and culinary lessons, as well as travel, lifestyle, fitness, digital and banking deals, amongst others.
“Our partnership with AREU is another step towards being an employer of choice as we anchor our roots in Singapore. More importantly, it is a reflection of our ongoing efforts to create and deepen meaningful community partnerships which will result in more social and recreational benefits to our Team Members, beyond what they currently enjoy at the company level,” said Marina Bay Sands President and CEO George Tanasijevich.
AREU President Mr Hassan Abdullah, said: “This is indeed a mutually beneficial partnership both for Marina Bay Sands management as well as their employees – one that I believe will strengthen even further. For the Labour Movement, we are happy to be given the opportunity to be a trusted voice for the workers at the workplace. We look forward to engaging with management for the betterment of the employees’ welfare as well as the company’s business.
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