Having a heart of compassion and a desire to help others when they are in need. These are the qualities that Building Construction and Timber Industries Employees’ Union (BATU) Branch Chairman Alice Ang said a union leader should embody.
For the past 11 years, Alice has been a union leader serving the needs of her union members. She says that the reason she decided to take up union leadership was because she could help workers when they are in need.
She said: “I try my best to help them when they are in need. When I come across cases which I can’t resolve on my own, I consult my Industrial Relations Officer (IRO). They have the resources and I on my part will provide the necessary information to them.”
Her close working relationship with the IROs of BATU have proven useful when negotiating with the management on behalf of the union members. “Very importantly, she gathers all the information and she will let me know. This helps when we cannot be at the branch all the time,” shares BATU Assistant Executive Secretary David Lim.
Shoring up support to organise company
Alice’s hard work and passion paid off when she helped to organise her members and staff at her workplace to support the union during the secret ballot that took place when her management did not want to give BATU direct recognition. As a result, the union won the ballot by 98 per cent.
“I did my best to go around and rally the support of my members and staff of the company to support the union, telling them the benefits of union membership,” shared Alice.
Standing up for the rights of workers
A good practice that Alice believes in is to ‘give and take’. But Alice is definitely not one to buckle under pressure when handling the welfare of members. When the management wanted to cut many of the employment benefits of some of the workers, Alice stood up for them and together with the support from BATU ensured that the benefits of the members were not compromised.
Once, she even had to settle a case which involved differences in employment benefits which were brought up to the Ministry of Manpower and eventually got the settlement for the members.
Her welcoming disposition and hard work has earned the respect of fellow workers, even foreign workers in the company who are union members. “All the foreign workers respect her and go to her when they face issues. Whenever there is an industrial relation issue, they will go to her,” said David.
