If employers, workers and Government continue to come together as they have over the last 60 years, Singapore will have every chance to succeed as it moves forward into the future, said NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng
In his opening address at the Labour Research Conference on 21 October 2022, Mr Ng reiterated the importance of tripartism, and how it has been crucial towards Singapore’s nation building over the last 60 years.
Some 400 tripartite representatives attended the conference held at the Stephen Riady Auditorium at NTUC Centre.
Mr Ng also referenced the challenges employers faced during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic over the last two years, adding that that it was the Labour Movement that urged the Government to provide more support to help employers tide through the crisis.
He shared: “In less than three months, we [tripartite partners] came up with the Job Support Scheme, enabling our businesses to stay afloat while undertaking the responsibility of keeping workers in jobs.
“At that time, we [tripartite partners] also came up with SIRS [Self-Employed Persons Income Relief Scheme] to support our freelancers, and within six months or so, pushed very much needed funds to workers in Singapore, to help with the economic impact.”
Mr Ng also said that the tripartite partners were able to help everyone through the pandemic because they used their heads to strategise, used their hands to get things done, and used their hearts to care for workers.
He also attributed this strategy as the cornerstone of how NTUC helped to modernise and transform Singapore’s economy.
“I would say we have done reasonably well,” added Mr Ng, touching on Singapore’s accomplishments.
Mr Ng also took the opportunity to renew the tripartite relationship with partners.
“May we renew our own individual pledges to the strength of tripartism; may we renew our institutional planning, our vigour, to do the best that we have; and importantly bring in the improved livelihood outcomes for our workers of Singapore in the best way possible,” he said.
This year’s conference also marked the inaugural launch of the Singapore Labour Journal, which is Southeast Asia’s first labour journal that incorporates peer-reviewed academic papers and practitioners’ insights.
The journal was conceived with an advisory board consisting of tripartite and institutes of higher learning representatives.
Mr Ng said that the journal formalises the work NTUC has done with academics as it puts together the thoughts and insights of academia and practitioners in the field of labour-management relations.
“While this may only be a journal in some people's minds, in my mind, it is a key to bring the Labour Movement on to the next phase of development,” he said.
The journal will provide academics, policymakers, practitioners, unions, and workers, and it is free to access at NTUC’s corporate website, as well as the National Library Board’s website.
