Singapore Industrial & Services Employees’ Union’s (SISEU) has done well in achieving its objectives in the last four years, but it must further push for productivity growth through skills upgrading and job redesign, help older workers to continue contributing to the economy by providing them training opportunities and prepare for the changing workforce demographics by continuing to serve more professionals, managers, and executives.
This was said by Minister for Health and SISEU Council of Advisors Chairman Gan Kim Yong at SISEU’s 35th Anniversary Dinner on 26 August 2016.
Minister Gan also said that the world is full of uncertainties and Singapore must keep innovating and adapting to the changing global landscape.
“With shorter business cycles, the job situation will also become more uncertain as companies restructure rapidly to move up the value chain. The past four years have been challenging for many companies. The tight labour market, coupled with rising business cost and increased global competition, has resulted in the faster pace of restructuring; particularly in the printing and textile, light manufacturing, engineering and oil and gas service providers,” said Minister Gan.
Even though it cannot stop companies from restructuring, the union must strive to ensure workers are supported with fair retrenchment payouts, training opportunities, and job placement services, he added.
Minister Gan also said that the work of SISEU should be proactive and not be confined to damage control in challenging times and that it is important to work closely with management to overcome challenges and strengthen labour-management relations.
Leadership Renewal
Stressing on the importance of leadership renewal, Minister Gan said: “Union leaders play a critical role in charting the direction of the union, and to ensure the good work will continue beyond all of us. It is important to have an established and sustainable leadership renewal process. We must also ensure that union leadership is inclusive and represents the workers in our industries,” he said.
Minister Gan commended SISEU’s former General Secretary Lim Kuang Beng, who held the position for 27 years, and former President Lim Heng Kee for being visionaries and spearheading initiatives to ensure SISEU’s smooth leadership transition and renewal process.
