The NTUC has today (29 June 2018) chosen veteran union leader Arasu Duraisamy to be the additional Parliamentary voice of workers as Labour Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP).
His name was submitted to the Special Select Committee of Parliament, which is responsible for nominating NMPs for appointment by the Singapore President.
Mr Arasu, 50, is currently an NTUC Central Committee member and General Secretary of the Singapore Port Workers’ Union. He has been with the union for 25 years.
In a press statement, NTUC said: “Mr Arasu’s selfless and steadfast demeanour has earned the respect of many of his union members, workers, peers and management over the years. He recognises the importance of leveraging his role as a union leader to speak up for workers’ interests and raise pertinent issues that he feels deeply for even if it might be unpopular to do so.”
NTUC added that Mr Arasu is a strong advocate for workers’ training, retraining and reskilling to adapt and remain relevant in a changing economic landscape.
Mr Arasu has also contributed to tripartism in Singapore. He previously represented workers in the National Wages Council. He also represents the Labour Movement in the Public Transport Council, which looks after the transport needs of Singaporeans.
Response from Candidate
In response to NTUC’s nomination, Mr Arasu said: “In my view, an NMP should be passionate about serving the people. As a Labour NMP, it is also about bringing across feedback and concerns from our workers to the Parliament so that pertinent issues can be resolved, and changes can be made for the good of our workers and economy. The NMP must be able to engage the ground and be trusted upon by our workers to place their interests as top priority.”
He added that if he is appointed Labour NMP, he will continue to advance the interests of workers, especially in training.
“At the rate that jobs are being affected by technological advancements, it is more important than ever before that our workers embrace and keep up with the transformations. The way forward has to be training. I will be focusing on the critical need for our workers to train, retrain and reskill and finding effective means to encourage them to embark on this journey,” said Mr Arasu.
NTUC President Mary Liew endorsed the nomination, adding that the Labour Movement is confident that Mr Arasu would be “able to value-add as an additional voice in Parliament to speak up for workers’ interests and welfare.”
“Coming from a union that has very strong labour-management relation with the management, he understands the true benefits of how such a foundation can be a win-win for both the company and its workers. Naturally, he is a strong advocate of tripartism. I believe that he will continue to help build on the strong tripartite relationship that we have, between our workers, employers and government, so that more can benefit from such consultative approaches,” she said.
If appointed, Mr Arasu will be the 12th person since 1992 to represent the unions as NMP. Others who have represented the unions in Parliament include the likes of NTUC President Mary Liew, United Workers of Petroleum Industry General Secretary K Karthikeyan, and NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Cham Hui Fong.
