The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and its co-operatives will draw on their collective resources to fight for workers' welfare and jobs during this period of economic difficulty.
In a media conference on the release of its 2003 Social Report Card, the NTUC Group also said it is committed to do more to help workers stretch their hard-earned dollars if the economic downturn persists.
Unions Stand by Workers at the Work Place
The NTUC revealed the important role played by union leaders in securing the 1,058 collective agreements currently in the workforce. In these collective agreements, union leaders successfully negotiated and secured wage increases, bonuses, welfare benefits, and other terms of employment for their bargainable members.
Over the last two years, the unions dealt with more than 11,000 industrial relations cases (6046 in Y2001, 5118 in Y2002). More than 9,000 cases have been solved, of which about 95% were settled directly by the union leaders together with the management of the respective companies. Around 5% had to be referred to the Ministry of Manpower, with only a handful necessitating arbitration. The other cases are still being dealt with, and most of them will be resolved by unions with a few going to MOM.
Union leaders dealt with 4,085 cases of individual grievances in Y2002 and 4,700 cases in Y2001. Individual grievances include unfair treatment, unfair dismissal, and cases which involve union members being unfairly penalised on performance-related issues. Union leaders resolved the issues through a process of consultation and negotiations with the management.
Other industrial relations cases which union leaders handled in Y2002 included:
Overall, notwithstanding the poor economic climate, unionised workers received an overall basic wage increase of 2.8% and 2.25 months of variable bonus. This compares favourably against the national figures of 2% and 1.65 months respectively.
In the media conference, NTUC Secretary-General Mr Lim Boon Heng highlighted the difficult but important jobs of union leaders, "Union leaders play an important role in helping their members understand the nature of the changing economy, and how workers can better prepare themselves for these changes."
He added, "The foremost priority of NTUC and its affiliated unions is to save jobs, and play a constructive role in creating new jobs in Singapore. As we take this journey with our workers, some of our members will be affected and some may lose their jobs. But we will help them through training and retraining, and job placement to find new work."
In the last five years, the NTUC provided 250,000 training places through its various programmes, such as SRP, N-ETF, BEST, WISE and the CREST programme.
The NTUC has also successfully matched 1,001 workers in Y2002 through NTUC JobLink. This year, as of July, it has already successfully placed 747 workers.
NTUC also helps workers upgrade or retrain to secure new employment through the Skills Training and Employability Enhancement for Retrenched and Unemployed workers (STEER) programme. Since March 2002, 693 workers have benefited from the program and have found new jobs.
NTUC Co-operatives Help Workers Stretch their Dollar
Turning on to the co-operatives, Mr Lim said, "The Unions and the NTUC co-operatives have made a real difference in improving the lives of workers. The co-operatives have done well to ensure workers get the best value for their money and maintain their cost of living during this time of economic uncertainty."
The nine NTUC co-operatives pledged their commitment to continue to assess the economic situation to see if more assistance, in terms of financial, social and community programmes, need to be implemented to help workers tide over the tough time.
A snapshot of the NTUC Co-operatives Report Card 2003 showed that:
1) NTUC FairPrice offers the lowest prices for 89 percent of an overall basket of 200 essential daily products among major supermarket or hypermarket chains surveyed. On top of absorbing the GST increase for a basket of 400 essential items, FairPrice continues to provide the price subsidy for these items at an estimated cost of $12 million for 2003.
2) NTUC Income distributed or reserved about 98% of its surpluses to policyholders. This compares with the average of 90% for private insurers.
3) NTUC Healthcare's Unity pharmacy chain offers lower prices for 88 percent of 60 common healthcare products. Fees at NTUC Denticare's chain of clinics are up to 30 percent lower than the Singapore Dental Association's Guideline of Fees.
4) NTUC ElderCare has maintained prices at the median level to all Singaporeans regardless of flat-type and income level as compared to other fully or partially funded Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs) and non-funded agencies. It continues to introduce new eldercare programmes, while expanding existing ones to benefit a greater number of elderly.
5) NTUC Childcare sets its fees at the median of the market. For its standard centres its fees of $410 are amongst the lowest, while the fees for upgraded centres at $480 are at the median.
6) NTUC Thrift encourages workers to save and offers a savings rate of 0.875 percent, the highest in the market. Fixed deposits interest rates are competitive as compared to major financial institutions. It also offers competitive interest rates for education, car, renovation and housing loans. NTUC Thrift also continues to extend the restructuring loan repayment scheme for workers affected by retrenchment.
7) NTUC Foodfare has the lowest prices for common beverages and canned drinks compared to other coffee shops and food courts. Their prices are also lower or equal for all of the nine basic food items across food courts and coffee shops.
8) NTUC Media's publication, "Lifestyle", is the most widely circulated magazine in Singapore with a monthly circulation of over 255,000, while "NTUC News" reaches out to 13,000 readers weekly. Both publications aim to promote understanding of labour and current issues among the public and union members. Every week, 417,000 listeners tune in to its radio stations.
9) NTUC Choice Homes provides quality housing to aspiring private homeowners at competitive prices and believes in sharing fruits of its success with workers. Between April 2002 and March 2003, it contributed over $160,000 to the labour movement.
Said Mr Lim, "The entire labour movement - the NTUC, the unions and the NTUC co-operatives, are lending their muscle to help workers and all Singaporeans cope in this time of difficulty. So far, the NTUC co-operatives have given out a total of S$78 million to soften the impact of the economic crisis and GST increase on workers.
The unions are in the battlefront fighting to protect workers' interests, and the co-operatives are here to help workers' stretch their hard earned dollars. We are approaching the challenges collectively to ensure that all of us, Singapore workers, come out as survivors."
Mr Lim added, "NTUC understands the difficulties faced by workers and indeed all Singaporeans. Many are under financial strain and there may be even more in the coming months before the economy turns around. NTUC will do our outmost to alleviate workers' burdens as much as possible. This is our pledge and commitment to all Singaporeans."
NTUC, its affiliated unions and the NTUC co-operatives in the fight against SARS
Mr Lim noted that over the past four years, the co-operatives have taken on a more significant role and made a greater impact on people's lives, especially in the light of the recent SARS outbreak.
Together, the NTUC unions and the NTUC co-operatives pooled together more than $300,000 for the Courage Fund.
The NTUC co-operatives funded the SARS Channel, which reached about 36,000 people daily, to educate the public about the disease. The NTUC launched the Singapore Contact Bowl to help in contact tracing. More importantly, unions shared SARS preventive measures at the workplaces to help protect their workers.
Individually, the co-operatives also contributed their part.
For example, NTUC FairPrice stepped in readily to ensure a steady supply and stable prices of vegetables when the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre was shut down due to the SARS outbreak.
NTUC HealthCare donated all the necessary medical equipment required for the Taxi Industry Task Force to conduct health-screening checks in an effort to contain the disease.
Of the co-operatives' role in Singapore's battle against SARS, he said: "I am glad that the co-operatives rallied together in a time of national crisis to help the community.
"They served their roles effectively and proved their relevance. They demonstrated through actions that they look out for Singaporeans at all times. I am confident that the NTUC co-operatives stand prepared to fight another crisis, if SARS happens again."
Conclusion
Commenting on the results of the Social Report Card 2003, Mr Lim said: "NTUC and the unions, and the NTUC co-operatives have fulfilled their roles and objectives in looking out for workers' interest."
He added, "While the economy is showing signs of recovery, I want to reassure all Singaporeans that the unions and the co-operatives will help workers emerge from this storm in the best possible way."
