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~ NTUC also helped members and workers stay in jobs, find jobs and
receive care and support amidst the COVID-19 pandemic ~
NTUC has been championing workers’ interests and rights over six decades
For 60 years since 6 September 1961, our National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) has been championing the interests and rights of all our workers so that they can enjoy better welfare, better wages, and better work prospects.
Given this raison d'etre, during NTUC’s National Delegates’ Conference (NDC) in 2019, our union delegates committed to innovate and ensure that NTUC continues to be representative of and relevant to our members and workers’ evolving needs, aspirations and concerns, which became even more pronounced with the onset of COVID-19. At the NTUC Ordinary Delegates’ Conference 2021 (ODC 2021) to be held on 17 November 2021, Wednesday, our union delegates from NTUC’s affiliated unions and associations will review the progress made to help our members and workers since NDC 2019 and determine what needs to be done further as a lead up to NDC in 2023.
Since NDC 2019, NTUC has been focusing on three key areas of innovation – namely the 3‘I’s – Innovating Business Model to further champion, represent and protect the interests of even more worker groups; Innovating Membership Model to better serve members through their life stages; and Innovating Training Model to improve workers’ employment and employability. These are underpinned by Digitalisation as an enabler to bring the whole of Labour Movement products and services to all our members and workers.
On serving our members and workers, NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng said, “Championing workers’ interests and rights, and helping them strive for better wages, better welfare and better work prospects has always been our Labour Movement’s mission. Since NDC 2019, our innovations in helping workers have borne fruit – a testimony that we are on the right track. As demands and expectations of our economy and society keep evolving, NTUC must continue to embrace innovation and digitalisation; expand our advocacy to wider groups of workers; and strive to meet our members and workers’ changing needs. By doing so, we can bring more value to our members, workers, and their families. At the same time, we assure them that NTUC will stand side by side with them and make real impact on their lives through good and challenging times. Because every worker matters.”
The test of the collective strength of NTUC and our unions, associations, social enterprises and related organisations, came to the fore when we had to tackle head on challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. NTUC’s quick action in adapting and helping our members, workers and even companies during the pandemic clearly demonstrated our resolve to continuously innovate and evolve to best serve our members and workers.
Innovating our business model to better represent and protect more workers
Amidst a changing labour landscape and the pandemic, NTUC recognised the rise of alternative work arrangements and increase in the number of freelancers and Self-Employed Persons (SEPs). We also saw the workplace vulnerabilities of other worker groups including Professionals, Managers & Executives (PMEs), Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) workers, youths and migrant workers.
Thus, we innovated our business model to build stronger relationships with these worker groups and understand their expectations and demands, so that their interests and rights in areas like career progression, job security, wage negotiations and workplace matters are better represented, advanced and protected.
By innovating our business model with our affiliated unions and associations, and NTUC workforce groups, NTUC can enhance our representation to protect a wider group of workers and expand our existing frameworks to protect vulnerable workers in terms of their employment and employability.
Innovating our membership model to provide relevant privileges and benefits
Membership has always been the foundation of NTUC and our Labour Movement. Thus, it is important for us to continuously meet our members’ needs and interests, and help them address their concerns and pressures. This is especially pertinent when disruptions like digitalisation and technology, and the pandemic affected their livelihoods and lives.
To strengthen NTUC membership’s value proposition by representing workers in their areas of need regardless of their occupations, we embarked on collaborations across clusters and explored new membership models or programmes, such as Family Membership; Social Enterprises (SE) memberships, and membership for migrant workers, to provide relevant privileges and benefits. Our membership base also expanded to cover more PMEs, freelancers and SEPs, SME workers, migrant workers and domestic migrant workers.
To this end, our NTUC membership has surpassed the 1 million mark and records at 1,075,958 as of June 2021, with an increase from 962,737 in 2019. To reach our target of 1.5 million members by 2030, the Labour Movement must continue to innovate our membership model to better serve even more members and their evolving aspirations and needs though their various life stages, during both good and challenging times.
Innovating our training model to help workers remain employable
NTUC places emphasis on training and skills upgrading for our workers to help improve their employment and employability.
With the support of our unions and workforce groups, we developed training and transformation partnerships with companies to create wins for our workers, companies and unions. We formed Company Training Committees (CTC) with companies across various industries and embarked on the Operation & Technology Roadmap (OTR) tool with them to transform their workforce through training and business strategies for longer term growth. The NTUC Job Security Council also supported companies (including unionised ones) with recruitment and redeployment efforts, which helped workers with their jobs and skills upgrading especially during the pandemic.
By innovating our training model, NTUC is able to provide our members and workers with more training and employment opportunities so that they are better skilled and can enjoy better wages, better welfare and better work prospects.
Whole of Labour Movement effort to help workers amidst COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has been an unprecedented crisis, causing immense business difficulties and uncertainties for both our companies and workers. Our Labour Movement recognised the risks it posed on our workers’ livelihoods and lives and our companies’ survivability and responded quickly to address them. The whole of Labour Movement then worked together to preserve jobs and wages, help affected workers transition or pivot to new jobs; train workers for new skills for better employability; and provide care and support to them and their families.
We worked with companies to preserve as many jobs for our workers as possible. For those who unfortunately lost their jobs, we helped them to negotiate for retrenchment benefits; pivot out of their situation; and find jobs as quickly as possible. We also assisted in the redeployment of workers in hard-hit sectors such as aviation, hospitality and tourism.
We implemented the Fair Retrenchment Framework to further guide companies on responsible retrenchment practices to ensure fair treatment for affected workers. For our lower-wage workers, we looked out for them and helped them preserve wages through negotiations within the National Wages Council guidelines. Through the NTUC Job Security Council, we assisted displaced or at-risk workers with job placements.
Our NTUC U Care, SE assistance programmes and other funding programmes helped low-income members cope with their costs of living; provided financial assistance to SEPs and freelancers who faced significant loss of income; cared for migrant workers who were affected by cases at their dormitories; and supported distressed migrant domestic workers.
Conclusion
At NTUC, our members and workers remain at the heart of everything we do. Our three key Innovations, underpinned by Digitalisation, will enable us to continue championing the interests of our workers and ensure the Labour Movement remains relevant to their needs through the changing economic and labour landscape in Singapore.
See ANNEX A for Key Figures from the NTUC ODC 2021 NTUC Secretary-General’s Report and NTUC COVID-19 Report.
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