Strong Endorsement of NTUC's Initiatives
23 September 2005
1 The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) Pre-Ordinary Delegates’ Conference (Pre-ODC) was held on 22th and 23rd of September 2005.
2 The delegates at the Conference gave their strong endorsement to the efforts that the union movement was undertaking under its “Jobs for Singaporeans” initiative. Delegates supported the efforts in re-creating jobs for Singaporeans through the job re-design efforts of improving the productivity and image of jobs for Singaporeans to take on. This would lead to better paying jobs for Singaporeans from the lower income group. The union delegates felt that more resources from the tripartite partners should be committed to the job redesign efforts.
3 The delegates also gave their support to the customer-centric initiative. They recognize that this is part of the overall effort to improve service standards and increase revenue, and that this would eventually result in better rewards for the workers.
4 There were discussions on helping the lower income workers through the “workfare” initiative. The union delegates would continue to participate in the public consultations on this topic. Some of the ideas that were surfaced include:
a. Increase the take-home pay for lower income workers. E.g. raise the minimum salary floor for CPF contribution and call on the Government to consider CPF top-up for these workers so that they could still afford HDB flats and have savings for retirement;
b. Provide greater social support to help more people to return to work. e.g. increase the subsidies for childcare and student-care services, extend opening hours of childcare centres and provide subsidies for elderly daycare services; and
c. Provide greater training support for lower income workers, especially in enhancing the employability of the less-skilled workers of all age groups. E.g. subsidies for employability skills training, assessment fees for skills certification and course-fee funding for workers in contingent work arrangements.
5 There was strong support for the union movement to actively reach out to the young. We would not only focus on the existing sectors but also the new growth sectors such as life sciences and new media. We would refresh our brand image, and develop new channels (e.g. the internet and SMS) and services (in the areas of work, live and play).
Lim Boon Heng
Secretary-General
National Trades Union Congress
