The National Transport Workers’ Union takes a proactive approach in engaging the union members regularly and surfacing issues that union members might face to the companies. It is unfortunate that the strike by the SMRT PRC bus drivers, who were not union members, had taken place, as it could have been avoided if management, union and workers had worked closer together.
There are important lessons that need to be drawn from this episode. Going forward, we are increasing our outreach to the foreign workers, so as to raise their awareness of what the unions can do for them. NTWU will be stepping up recruitment efforts to get more to join the union. At the same time, we hope that foreign workers can also take an active role in engaging and responding to the union. We will also continue to strengthen our labour-management relations and get employers to work with us to ensure that all workers, both local and foreign, enjoy fair terms and treatment.
Lastly, we wish to reiterate that management must always maintain an open line of communication with all their workers. Workers must recognise that there is a right and proper way to air their grievances and these should be adhered to. We hope that such an incident will not be repeated.
Thank you.
National Transport Workers’ Union (NTWU)
