Thank you, Brother Stephen Lee!

The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) is deeply grateful to Brother Stephen Lee for his astute leadership and contributions to tripartism and the Labour Movement in all his years of service at the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF).

The Labour Movement greatly values tripartism as a key pillar in Singapore’s economic and social development. As a distinguished tripartite partner and a respected leader in the business community, he has played a key role in growing and maintaining the strong tripartite partnership as well as mutual trust and respect between employers and labour unions all these years.

An Outstanding Tripartite Leader

Over the decades, Brother Lee epitomised the spirit of tripartism, always adopting a fair and balanced approach when managing major issues that had great impact on both businesses and workers. While he echoed the views and concerns of the business community he represented, he has always been ready to understand workers’ issues and achieve mutually beneficial outcomes for both employers and workers.

During economic crises, he worked closely with unions and tripartite partners and urged managements to take the difficult but necessary lead in cutting their own wages first to save costs. He was instrumental in guiding companies to focus on other cost-cutting measures to save workers’ jobs and upgrading their skills during those tough times, and seeing them through the economic downturns of 1985, 1998, 2001 and 2009.

As Chairman of PSA from 2002 to 2005, he and the management team restructured the company to regain its competitive edge. As a worker-centric leader, he recognised the hardship that this would cause to workers. Thus, he went the extra mile to keep in close contact with union leaders from the Singapore Port Workers Union (SPWU) and Port Officers’ Union (POU) and made every effort to understand the workers’ viewpoints. He assisted in the conclusion of labour-management negotiations based on mutual respect and principles of reasonableness, fairness and equity.

When wage restructuring was needed at PSA, he urged management to lead by example in taking deeper wage cuts. He also introduced a more flexible wage system to help PSA tide through those difficult times, while ensuring that workers continued to be rewarded based on performance. To minimise pain to workers, he also set up a hardship grant under SPWU to help workers, and established a gain-sharing scheme for two years. These further strengthened the labour-management relations in PSA.

His unassuming, down-to-earth nature is also apparent in his engagements with union leaders and workers. As Chairman of SIA, he met union leaders from the SIA unions at coffee shops and union offices to help resolve differences between the unions and management.

At tripartite platforms like the National Wages Council (NWC), he is always open to hearing workers’ concerns and works readily with NTUC to address these concerns.

As advisor to the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP), he strongly encourages employers to adopt fair and responsible employment practices, reward workers according to merit and ensure workplace inclusiveness. He also advocates for job redesign and flexible work arrangements to make workplaces more age- and family-friendly, in order to help older workers and women stay in the workforce.

Strong Support to the Labour Movement

Brother Lee has been a staunch supporter of the Labour Movement and our initiatives ever since he began his tenure at SNEF in 1980.

For example, he ardently supports the Labour Movement’s Progressive Wage Model (PWM) where productivity, skills, jobs and wages move up in tandem for workers, by proactively urging employers to adopt it. He also played a significant role in garnering employers’ support and acceptance for the recent Employment Act changes, to provide better protection for an additional 450,000 workers, including PMEs (Professionals, Managers and Executives) – something which the Labour Movement has been pushing for in recent years.

He also supports the Labour Movement’s call for re-employment of older workers so that employers would have a larger pool of manpower resource. At the same time, he advocates for workers’ training as he firmly believes in upgrading workers’ so that they can take on larger and higher job roles. He believes that employers, too, should engage, empower and motivate their workers to give their best in their jobs.

To help companies and workers, he placed much emphasis on productivity at the workplace and encouraged innovation and continuous improvements in work processes. He holds the view that management must gain workers’ and unions’ support and co-operation so that productivity measures can be implemented smoothly. With this, he also advocates gain-sharing with workers, not just in terms of wages but also in terms of better skills and jobs. He strongly believes that growth should be productivity-led, sustainable and inclusive. This is important for us at the Labour Movement as well.

Involvement in the Labour Movement

In the Labour Movement, Brother Lee has been heavily involved in various organisations and committees. He has been Director of the Singapore Labour Foundation (SLF) since December 2001, and Director of SLF Strategic Advisers Pte Ltd since November 2010. He has also served as a member of the SLF Audit & Risk Committee and SLF Investment Committee since December 2007. He was on the Board of Governors of the then Singapore Institute of Labour Studies (now the Ong Teng Cheong Labour Leadership Institute – OTCi), from March 1998 to March 2002.

He has also been Director of NTUC Enterprise Co-operative Limited since July 2012, and a member of the NTUC Enterprise Nominating Committee since September 2012. He became Chairman of NTUC Income Insurance Co-Operative this year.

Thank you, Brother Lee!

Brother Lee’s contribution to tripartism and support for the Labour Movement are significant and immeasurable and have resulted in numerous positive outcomes for both workers and employers over the years. While his tenure at SNEF will end soon, the strong foundation he has laid will allow our strong tripartite relations to continue.

The Labour Movement expresses our deepest and most heartfelt appreciation to Brother Lee for his dedication and comradeship all these years. He will always be a dear and faithful friend of the Labour Movement, and we wish him well in his future endeavours.

At the same time, we look forward to working with his successor, Dr Robert Yap, to continue the good work of advancing the interest of our workers.

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