Ong Teng Cheong Labour Leadership Institute (OTCi) celebrated the graduation of 156 union leaders from various courses on 23 November 2019.
The graduation was attended by Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam and NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng.
Graduates received their certificates from a variety of courses, ranging from Industrial Relations to Human Resource Management and Employment Development.
In his speech, Mr Tharman gave recognition to the commitment made by union leaders towards lifelong learning and towards better serving the workers.
“These new skills are going to be critical to ensure that the Labour Movement can meet the diverse needs of our workers, amidst the uncertainties in the global environment and as we transform our economy,” he said.
Mr Tharman also highlighted OTCi’s role in helping union leaders strengthen their core skills so that the unions can innovate beyond serving the traditional rank and file members to include workers from other segments such as professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs), freelancers and workers in small medium enterprises (SMEs).
Programmes Strengthen Various Areas
On the current global environment, Mr Tharman also noted that OTCi’s programmes have helped strengthen Singapore’s unique tripartite system, bringing about better wages and prospects for workers, providing a conducive environment for businesses, as well as achieving sustainable growth for the nation.
“OTCi, riding on its unique setup and leverage, will continue to drive the practice of tripartism through its programmes as it has been doing in the past decade,” he mentioned.
One of the graduands, Vice-President of the Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority Workers' Union (SURAWU), K. Manogaaran said during his graduation speech: “As union leaders, in the midst of constant changes around us, we have no choice but to continue upgrading ourselves to help workers navigate through the challenges they face, remain relevant and represent their interests.
"So dear fellow union leaders, let's march on!"
