Workers in Singapore, especially those in sectors such as aviation, tourism and point-to-point transport, are experiencing hardship due to losses in income amidst the COVID-19 outbreak. To offer some aid to distressed workers during this period, NTUC, its affiliated unions and associations as well as the Singapore Government are collectively committing $25 million as part of the NTUC Care Fund (COVID-19) to provide one-off relief of up to $300 per union member.
Providing relief to distressed union members impacted by COVID-19
The NTUC Care Fund (COVID-19) is applicable to union members who:
a. Are retrenched with retrenchment benefits of not more than $6,500, or
b. Originally earned up to $3,400 Gross Monthly Personal Income (GPI) for those with dependents or up to $1,500 GPI for those without dependents; and are either:
i. suffering from an income drop of at least 30 per cent of their monthly salary/earnings due to COVID-19, or
ii. are self-employed persons whose incomes have been adversely affected due to COVID-19 related job or event cancellations.
Eligible union members will receive between $50 to $300 worth of one-off cash relief, as follows:
|
|
Union members with dependents staying in the same household in Singapore |
Union members without dependents staying in the same household in Singapore |
|
Existing union members |
$300 |
$100 |
|
New union members |
$200 |
$50 |
An estimated total of 108,000 union members are expected to benefit.
Holistic support for affected union members
A range of other existing programmes is also available to support existing union members, in providing them with additional assistance for daily expenses as well as to encourage them to utilise any downtime for skills upgrading:
• CapitaLand-U Care Resilience and Enablement (CAP+Ure) Fund
The fund provides interim support for workers impacted by a sudden loss in income, to help support their children’s daily necessities and schooling needs. Each eligible child will receive a one-time disbursement of $250 NTUC FairPrice vouchers.
• Training: LIFT-UP Pathfinder
Existing members can also apply for LIFT-UP Pathfinder, which provides customised training worth up to $500, to members with the intent to lift them out of their current circumstances and bring about more sustained improvements to their lives.
• Training: Union Training Assistance Programme (UTAP)
UTAP is a training benefit that helps union members defray 50 per cent of unfunded course fees for up to $250 per year.
Union members can apply for NTUC Care Fund (COVID-19) and other assistance programmes with their respective unions or via NTUC Membership from 25 March to 30 September 2020.
NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng said, “With the recent COVID-19 developments, our workers have shared that their biggest concerns centre around sustaining their livelihoods and caring for their loved ones. This is especially so for our lower-income members as well as the sandwiched generation with multiple dependents. With the cash relief provided by the Care Fund, together with other assistance programmes that NTUC is availing to our workers, we hope to ease their burden even for a while, and continue to help them in the areas of training and employability support so that they can remain relevant and ready for when the upturn comes.”
Concerted effort to uplift workers during challenging times
Through the $25 million NTUC Care Fund (COVID-19), NTUC, its affiliated unions and associations together with the Singapore Government are banding together in a show of support to help our workers by providing them with temporary cash relief which will help to ease their daily expenses during this period of hardship. The Government has contributed $10 million to the NTUC-U Care Fund. This enables NTUC to pull together a fund worth $25 million in total, with its affiliated unions and associations co-funding 10 per cent of the remaining $15 million.
The NTUC Care Fund (COVID-19), in tandem with training and employability support that the Labour Movement continues to offer to workers, will go some way in safeguarding our workers’ welfare in times of need, while preparing them to remain relevant and adaptable to industry needs.
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Annex A: Factsheet on NTUC Care Fund (COVID-19)
Annex B: Illustrations: Tiers of assistance that members can receive from NTUC
Annex C: Info on other assistance programmes by NTUC
