Mr John De Payva, President, NTUC
Mr Toh Hock Poh, President, MIWU
Mr Tan Chai Kun, General Secretary, MIWU
Fellow Comrades
Ladies and Gentlemen.
1 Three years had passed since we last gathered for MIWU 7th Triennial Delegates Conference. During the last conference, I highlighted on the need to remake Singapore in order for us to stay competitive and attractive to investors and also, emphasised the need for re-training, particularly for employees in the metal industry. It seems that this need, is even more pertinent today than before.
2 President Toh had pointed out in his opening address that over 800 members of MIWU had been retrenched over the last three years. Shorter work week and wage cuts continued as companies struggled on, despite the recovery in the economy in 2004. Your experience is not unique: several sectors of the manufacturing industry have been undergoing the same kinds of restructuring. In order for Singapore to grow so that workers can find jobs, we need to continue to attract higher value added jobs and re-create old jobs. Our people MUST be able to fit into these jobs.
3 According to the Labour Force Survey 2004, for precision engineering cluster, most of the jobs in demand include manufacturing/mechanical engineers, numerical control machinists as well as tool and die makers. In addition to academic qualifications such as degree/diploma, employers are also looking for soft skills such as leadership management and communication and relationships skills.
4 In order for our members to fit into such jobs, upgrading and training is the only way to go. However, many of our mature workers have not understood the fundamental shifts that have taken place. They are still hoping for their old jobs and remain resistant to training. If our members are unable to upgrade themselves and fit into new jobs, it is only a matter of time that they would inevitably be displaced and forced by market forces to take on the lower value jobs that match their current educational and skills level. Encouraging our members to go for further upgrading is an uphill task, but we must persist.
5 Recently the NTUC conducted some focused group discussions among workers. One finding was that some workers think that unions should oppose if a company wants to restructure, resulting in retrenchment. They think that if the union opposes restructuring, it would protect their jobs. Our union leaders know that it is futile to oppose restructuring. MIWU has organised study tours to other countries, especially to China. Union leaders have understood the competitive forces at work, and know that the only way to keep jobs in Singapore is to be able to achieve higher productivity, so that the cost of producing the goods here is lower in spite of higher wages. If we cannot do that, then opposing relocation of the production is like banging our heads against a brick wall. What is more, we lose valuable time in helping our workers re-train for new jobs.
6 Maybe we should do more to explain to members how the various sectors of the economy are restructuring, how such restructuring will affect workers, and highlight what workers must do. Workers must understand the need for remaking themselves just as we are remaking the economy.
7 We will need to continue to help workers who have been displaced by restructuring.
8 I am glad that MIWU’s initiative on the Special Relief Fund had helped some of our members in this area.
9 I am also pleased to note that relations between the management and the union remained harmonious, despite the difficult times that we all experienced for the past three years. Members are important to the union, but so are management partners. Without the assistance and cooperation of the management, it would be difficult to even iron out the day-to-day issues that both parties encountered. In order to add value to our members, we should also add value to our management partners. It is through working together that we can reduce the pain for our members when companies restructure. I congratulate the union in your efforts in this aspect. You have helped to generate mutual understanding by involving management in your study tours. And by mutual understanding I mean a common understanding of the competition that we face.
10 I know that MIWU leaders know that the approach we have taken to protect the interests of workers is correct. However, the public at large may not. Let me draw some lessons from what other unions do.
11 Last month, the labour movement in the United States split. Why? The fundamental issue is decline in union membership. The unions in the United States represent only 8% of the workforce. Their strongest base now is the public sector. Previously, their strongest base was the manufacturing sector. When their costs rose, their companies became MNCs, investing overseas and moving jobs overseas. We have benefited from this. The US unions fought their employers against such moves, and still continue in this futile exercise. The US trade union movement split because of differences over how to stem the loss of membership. One group, led by old leaders, thinks that the way to do so is to spend more money lobbying the politicians to prevent the relocation of production and services overseas, lobbying them against signing more free trade agreements. The other group, led by younger leaders, thinks that the way forward is to spend more money on recruiting members in growth sectors of the economy.
12 Which group is right? In the past 25 years I have watched how unions in the developed countries acted. They have acted in accordance with how workers think unions should act – that is, to oppose restructuring. They have not succeeded. If the companies did not shift their production overseas, they would become less and less competitive, and eventually they would lose their business to other companies, and close shop altogether. Some have indeed closed shop. The workers lost their jobs anyway. I decided that it was a silly approach to oppose restructuring. I decided that the sensible thing to do is to understand what is happening in industry, and take early action to help our workers to make the adjustments.
13 It means that when workers move to other jobs, the union should move into those areas. Then we keep our membership, and remain strong. That is why we moved into “seamless membership”. Once a worker has joined a union, he remains a member unless he resigns from the union. We shifted from collecting union membership fees through the check-off system to GIRO.
14 By doing so, our union movement is probably the only one in the developed world that has increased membership!
15 But we cannot rest on our laurels. While we change the way we recruit and keep members, we must also change the way that we service members. This is a work in progress. We need all our unions to think how they should change in the way that they service members. I know that MIWU has made changes. Today members have a card with key information on who to contact if they have problems. They can use the phone or sms. After today, they can also keep touch with MIWU through the internet, as we launch MIWU’s website. This transformation will have to continue.
16 We will have to change if we are to attract younger workers to join the union. Let me give an example to illustrate what I mean. In the past, the coffee-shop was the popular place for workers to gather and chit-chat. Such coffee-shops still find favor with older workers. However, the younger workers go to Starbucks, and can chit-chat with friends on the internet. Even the not-so-young prefer a re-made coffee-shop like Ya Kun. So, is the union the old coffee-shop, the Ya Kun or the Starbucks café? I am afraid if we remain the old coffee-shop then our unions will decline, just as US unions have done. Perhaps we cannot abandon the coffee-shop because our older members want the coffee-shop. So maybe we should have both the coffee-shop and new Starbucks-type cafes! And the Ya Kuns!
17 In recent months, there had been great concern over how we should help the lower income families. The labour movement had always been very proactive in this area. At the NTUC level, we have given out Public Transport vouchers, Fairprice Vouchers as well as Bursary, scholarships etc.
18 As a caring union, I am please to learn that MIWU had given out a total of $131,700 to members and their families as part of the SLF Gift Plus claims. Another $36,450 had been given out as Hardship grant to members who suffered financial hardship. In total, for the three years past, MIWU gave a total of $134,800. This does not include Fairprice vouchers and public transport vouchers given out under NTUC Scheme as well as the various payments under respective branches such as Branch WISE schemes, Special Welfare schemes etc.
19 There is no doubt that the assistance rendered by the labour movement had helped the lower income families to a large extent. However, we will not stop here. The labour movement will continue to do its utmost to look after the lower income and the less fortunate. But for the union and NTUC to continue to do so, we will need the support of everyone, management partners, union officials, and members in general. It is with the support of everyone that we have managed to come so far and I am confident we will continue to have your strong support.
20 On this note, I wish to thank all outgoing Executive Committee members for their hard work over the years and to the new term, my heartiest congratulations and support in your future endeavors.
21 Whatever the shape of the union in the future, solidarity gives us strength; comradeship gives us the spirit to do more for workers!
