Our Guest of Honour, Deputy Prime Minister Brother Teo Chee Hean
Brother Lim Swee Say, Secretary-General, NTUC
Brother Tan Chuan-Jin, Acting Minister for Manpower
Brother Stephen Lee, President, SNEF,
NTUC Central Committee Members
Distinguished Guests
Brothers and Sisters
Good evening and welcome to May Day Dinner 2013.
We are going through challenging times. Growth has slowed, competition is intense, and manpower is tight. As we strive to make the transition towards quality growth, the labour leadership of NTUC and our affiliated unions recognizes the big changes that Singapore must go through over the next few years. The stresses facing both workers and companies going through these changes are real and immediate. For example, rank and file, especially lower wage workers, are concerned about better pay as they cope with higher costs of living. PMEs are concerned about fair opportunities for jobs and career progression. Older workers are concerned about fair treatment, while many working women hope to be able to juggle better between career and family.
At times like this, the Labour Movement has an even more important role to play in helping to build a better Singapore for all our workers.
Only with a stronger Labour Movement can we ensure that workers’ core interests continue to be safeguarded as we go through this necessary restructuring. Both the NTUC and our affiliated unions are committed to stand by the side of our members and workers. We must continue to be their voice and air their concerns and meet their aspirations. But more importantly, we must have the weight and influence to be able to bring about real tangible changes to better the lives of workers.
Brothers and sisters, as we strengthen our unions and deepen our outreach to more workers, let us remember to value Tripartism, and how it has built up Singapore to what it is today. As we celebrate May Day, let us reaffirm our brand of constructive tripartism, one that must continue to strike a fair balance between the concerns of workers and businesses. This is the best way to ensure social stability, economic competitiveness and a better Singapore for us and our families.
Tonight, we are glad and honoured that Deputy Prime Minister Brother Teo Chee Hean is our Guest of Honour. Brother Teo is no stranger to the Labour Movement. Not only is he DPM, Co-ordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs, he is also Advisor for some of our key unions, namely the SMMWU and UWEEI. With the depth of his experience in both Government and the unions, I look forward to his insights on the challenges facing Singapore, and some of the implications for the Labour Movement going forward.
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