28 Apr 2009
May Day Message 2009 by Mr John De Payva, President, National Trades Union Congress
1 This time last year, we were still enjoying relatively steady growth and full employment. One of our key concerns then was rising inflation and costs of living driven by higher fuel and food prices. There was some uncertainty about the global economy but generally the mood was positive.
2 Nobody then could have predicted how deeply and sharply the global economy will nosedive over the course of the year. By the third quarter of 2008, Singapore was hit by a slowdown in job creation and the beginning of the first wave of retrenchments. The latest GDP forecast for Singapore in 2009 is a contraction of 6% to 9%.
3 With the unprecedented nature of this downturn, both in terms of its scale and speed, the tripartite partners have responded swiftly and decisively with pro-business and pro-worker measures. The Tripartite Guidelines on Managing Excess Manpower, and the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR), Jobs Credit and other measures to help with business costs were rolled out very quickly. All these measures will go a long way to help businesses to cut costs and save jobs. At the NTUC, the e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) stepped up to the challenge of helping to minimise structural unemployment by helping workers to re-skill, up-skill and find jobs as quickly as possible.
4 However, beyond introducing these measures, we also need the people with the right knowledge, skills and heart on the ground to make them work. Especially in tough times like these, we need all tripartite partners to be united in direction and yet individually strong to carry the ground.
5 Hence, we want to ensure that our union leaders on the ground are given the best support and knowledge possible for them to help the management in their unionised companies upturn the downturn. This is very important, as union leaders have been and will continue to face a lot of heat from workers on the ground who are anxious about their jobs and livelihoods in an uncertain environment.
6 No two downturns are exactly alike. The underlying causes may be different and thus require different responses and solutions. So union leaders, both new and experienced, can be updated with the latest developments, and be better prepared to handle the new challenges that will come their way.
7 To this end, the Ong Teng Cheong Labour Leadership Institute quickly launched a series of “Upturn the Downturn” workshops for our union leaders in January 2009. The workshops provide essential information on how to handle potentially difficult situations that could arise in retrenchment and managing excess manpower, how e2i can help retrenched workers find new jobs and the programmes available to help companies upgrade their capabilities during their downtime such as SPUR.
8 The workshops could not have come at a better time. Over 1,000 union leaders have already gone through the workshop, and the feedback from union leaders who have gone through the workshops is very encouraging. We expect to send close to 1,200 union leaders through the workshop by the end of May 2009.
9 However, we know that despite our best efforts, there will still be workers and their families who will be severely affected by this downturn. This is why even though we upped our annual Care and Share budget in 2008 from $7 million to $13 million to tackle high inflation, we decided to boost it into a $20 million U Care Fund for 2009.
10 We knew that raising this much funds will be a tall order, but we did not flinch. Many families will be going through hardship as we weather the worst global downturn since The Great Depression. The funds will be needed, and quickly.
11 With these funds, we can do more for lower-income members and their families to ease their living expenses and education costs for their children. We are also working towards setting aside funds for retrenched workers who might not be compensated due to retrenchments and company closures.
12 Not only do we need to raise a large U Care Fund, we also want to be inclusive in our fund raising. We have therefore been garnering contributions from our social enterprises and the Singapore Labour Foundation (SLF), affiliated unions and associations, working partners, as well as individual private companies and organisations. In this regard, I am pleased to report that we have already achieved the targeted $1 million in contributions from our 60 affiliated unions and 6 associations. With the matching grant of $2 million from SLF, we have crossed the $15 million mark for our U Care Fund for the year.
13 All these efforts would not have been possible without our unique and strong tripartism. There are not many places in the world where private companies and organisations would contribute towards a union fund for needy members, much less in these worst of times. It is a testament of the Labour Movement’s reputation to work towards win-win outcomes for both businesses and for workers, that employers continue to see value in supporting us.
14 The economic storm will put our solidarity under stress. But just like the best steel is forged under extreme heat and pressure, our solidarity and unity will be forged even stronger as we ride out this economic storm together.
15 This May Day, let us celebrate our solidarity in action as we upturn the downturn together.
16 A very Happy May Day to all.
