By Fawwaz Baktee
The Labour Movement will go online to observe May Day 2020 due to the COVID-19 situation.
Unlike previous years, there will not be a physical May Day Rally of union leaders, associations, management partners and government leaders.
Instead, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will deliver his May Day Message on national television on 30 April 2020 at 7.30pm.
The message will also be streamed on several social media channels such as the Prime Minister's Office’s and NTUC Singapore’s Facebook pages and YouTube channels.
After Mr Lee delivers his address, NTUC, the Government and the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) will hold a closed-door online dialogue session.
NTUC said that it expects 500 participants at the virtual dialogue session. These include union leaders, U Associates, U SME partners, NTUC Communities, employers, and government leaders.
The dialogue session will be hosted by NTUC President Mary Liew, NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo and SNEF President Robert Yap.
NTUC added that the dialogue session will be held to show solidarity among tripartite partners and that it is a way to help them reaffirm their commitment to advance the interests of workers in Singapore.
Apart from the May Day Rally, NTUC traditionally holds other May Day events every year such as the May Day Awards, May Day Domestic Employees Celebrations, May Day Migrant Workers Celebrations and the May Day Fiesta. NTUC has similarly made changes to these events.
NTUC announced that it will be cancelling the May Day Awards event this year, adding that “alternative arrangements to honour this year’s awardees will be advised at a later date.”
The May Day Domestic Employees Celebration event has also been moved to online platforms. NTUC said that it is also exploring to hold the May Day Migrant Workers Celebrations online.
Additionally, NTUC will not be holding the May Day Fiesta this year.
NTUC Assistant Director-General Vivek Kumar, who chairs the May Day 2020 organising committee, said: “These are unusual times that call for an extraordinary display of spirit and gumption, whether from our union leaders and workers to our tripartite partners, and even the May Day 2020 organising committee.
“While we will be celebrating May Day 2020 differently this year, I am heartened that the spirit of wanting to come together to serve our workers, and to show our solidarity as tripartite partners remains very strong. We stand in solidarity with our workers in these difficult times.”
Watch PM Lee Hsien Loong's May Day Message on any of the following online platforms:
