While the overall economic performance of Singapore in 2017 was better than expected, growth across sectors was not uniform. Amidst the changing workforce demographics and employment shifts, our Labour Movement continues to be steadfast in serving the evolving needs of our working people. At the NTUC Ordinary Delegates’ Conference in November last year, we secured a decisive vote to update the NTUC Constitution, expanding our network to serve all working people in Singapore.
With unions as the bedrock of the Labour Movement, we now represent working people in all industries and professions through our expanded network of professional guilds and associations, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), freelancers and self-employed (FSE) communities, migrant worker networks and our social enterprises.
Besides protecting the employment and legal rights of workers, our unions have stepped up efforts to help displaced workers find employment as well as facilitate upskilling and career progression. The U Associates (UA) community has also grown, enabling professionals, managers and executives to access industry expertise in sunrise industries such as Fintech and sustainable energy, and widen their professional networks locally and globally.
Through our U SME, SME bosses are able to enhance the welfare of their workers while U FSE continues to protect the interests of freelancers and self-employed in areas such as income security and payment dispute management. The Migrant Workers’ Centre and Centre for Domestic Employees have also expanded their service offerings to include convenient remittance and electronic payment of salaries through breakthrough partnerships with local banks.
As a synergistic Labour Movement network, alliances have been formed amongst different segments. Unions and UAs have become partners, such as in the Oil, Petrochemical, Energy and Chemical (OPEC) and Healthcare sectors, to help our working people benefit from Singapore’s transformation. These partners are bringing the Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs) to the ground to provide our workers with greater access to upskilling and placement opportunities. Moving ahead, we will continue to work with our tripartite partners to translate ITMs into tangible outcomes - so that our working people can have better jobs and a brighter future.
Efforts to prepare our working people to be future-ready are also bolstered by the enhanced training capabilities of NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) and NTUC LearningHub (LHUB). U Leap, a mobile learning application by e2i, provides on-the-move, bite-sized learning modules and the customised SkillsFuture for Digital Workplace programme by LHUB equips workers with essential basic digital skills required at the workplace.
With training as a key priority, we have also set up a Training Council to oversee the curation and delivery of relevant certification and sector-specific training through collaborations with Institutes of Higher Learning, professional associations and companies. These collaborations bring a unique edge to our training offerings — accessible, bite-sized and just-in-time learning that addresses the latest industry trends and issues.
As we progress ahead, our NTUC Social Enterprises have similarly advanced in providing quality, affordability and convenience to people of Singapore. These are being achieved through the management of hawker centres by NTUC Foodfare and holistic offerings of daily necessities through a range of NTUC FairPrice stores including supermarkets, FairPrice On - the online store and Unity Pharmacy. NTUC Link has also set up a Data and Analytics Centre of Excellence to harness data assets within the Group in order to develop insights to meet the needs of customers and merchant partners better.
With workers at the core of all our efforts, our expanded Labour Movement network reaffirms our commitment to advance their interests and that of Singapore’s for a better future together.
Happy May Day!
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