NTUC’S Response to Letter in TODAY: “Something for Someone – All Members Benefit from Union Membership”
29 September 2005
News Editor
TODAY
I refer to the letter, “Union fee hike unfair to those in the middle-income group”, dated 29 September 2005, by Mr Christopher Teo Kian Lam.
The union membership fee increase does not penalise any groups of members. Indeed, all members benefit from union membership in different ways. Members also enjoy a wide range of services and benefits from the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and our affiliated unions and associations, and cooperatives.
The labour movement plays an important role in representing and protecting our workers’ interests and welfare. At the national level, the labour movement speaks for our workers to ensure that policies review and formulation take into account workers’ concerns. At the workplace, workers are assured that they can look to our unions or NTUC for fair treatment.
Looking ahead, the pace of globalisation and restructuring will only get faster. Workers who are retrenched worry about their livelihood and jobs. Our unions not only work to ensure that retrenched workers are fairly compensated, but also help them gain re-employment as quickly as possible through training and job matching.
NTUC was also quick to anticipate the emerging threat of structural unemployment. We initiated the Job Re-creation Programme (JRP) early this year to redesign low-value and low-paying jobs into better jobs with more decent pay. The JRP has already helped more than 2,500 job seekers find employment, and we are now expanding the scope of the JRP to other sectors with the aim of re-creating 10,000 jobs every 12 to 18 months.
To help our union members cope, we have strongly pushed for workers’ training at the national level and at the workplace. We also provide support to our union members through the NTUC Education and Training Fund (NETF) and the NTUC Surrogate Employer Programme (SEP).
And notwithstanding all these, we have adapted our services and benefits in a mass customisation way to stay relevant to the changing needs of our union members. It is with this in mind that we recently launched the travel club U.Travel for all union members – because members told us in a survey last year that they would like to have travel benefits. There are more to come. We invite Mr Teo and others to call us at 6213 8008 or visit our website www.ntuc.org.sg to find out more on union membership.
Although we can’t be everything to everyone, we can certainly offer something to someone according to his needs and wants.
Our aim is to help improve workers’ lives, and we remain committed to ensure that union membership remains the most valued membership for workers in Singapore.
Neo Gim Kian
Director
Membership Department
National Trades Union Congress
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For media queries, please contact:
Goy Kae Lip
Consultant
Corporate Communications Department
National Trades Union Congress
DID 6213 8184
HP 9792 0650
Email goykl@ntuc.org.sg
