27 Jul 2004
The NTUC, its affiliated unions and the NTUC Co-ops pledge to help workers cope with the economic changes ahead
The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and its cooperatives will continue to focus on protecting workers’ interests at the workplace, and helping workers stretch their hard earned dollar through the NTUC cooperatives. Amidst signs of economic recovery, the NTUC pledged that it will play its part in maintaining the cost of living, and help workers get the best value for their money.
In a media conference on the release of its 2004 Social Report Card, the NTUC said that it will draw on its collective resources to meet the social needs of workers, and prepare them for the changing economic landscape ahead.
Last year the NTUC cooperatives ploughed back more than $58 million in savings to workers, and gave out more than $8.8 million through social programmes to help the needy workers and their families.
NTUC Unions and Co-operatives Cushion Workers Financial Strain by Helping Children from Needy Families
The NTUC revealed that the nine cooperatives gave out more than $58 million last year in the form of rebates. The rebates helped soften the impact of the downturn last year and moderated prices of essential household items.
The cooperatives also came up with assistance programmes to help workers and their families. In particular, in the area of education, the unions and cooperatives contributed some $1.8 million in the form of education scholarships, bursaries and study grants for workers’ children. More than 12,000 children benefited from the schemes. (Annex A gives a snapshot of the contributions made by the Co-operatives.)
In a media conference, NTUC Secretary-General Lim Boon Heng commended the unions and cooperatives for taking the initiative in extending help to workers’ children.
Mr Lim, “For many of us who have seen the importance of a good education, we will do our utmost to help workers and their children, so that they are not deprived of the opportunity to get a good education. Of course, we hope that the scholarships and bursaries will also motivate the children to do their best in school.”
Last year, with the support from NTUC Club, SLF, SBS Transit, SMRT Corp, the NTUC also broke new grounds by putting together a new $3m programme for the children of needy families - the Public Transport Assistance (PASS) Vouchers. So far, more than 16,000 children of needy families have benefited from the scheme.
Another 18,000 children are expected to benefit in the second round exercise to be held between August and October 2004.
Mr Lim said, “The NTUC cooperatives have gone beyond their call of duty. Apart from moderating prices to ensure that workers get the best value for their money, they have also come up with programmes to help the children of needy workers.”
He added, “Last year was an especially challenging time for many workers. NTUC and its cooperatives understand the difficulties faced by workers and all Singaporeans. We will help lighten their burdens as much as possible.”
NTUC and its Affiliated Unions Helped to Protect Workers Interest and Welfare with Effective Industrial Relations
Turning on to the unions and union leaders, Mr Lim noted the increasingly important role that they play. He said, “There had been a number of high profile industrial relations cases in 2003 and the early part of 2004. These included the retrenchment and wage restructuring in PSA Corporation and the cases involving SIA unions. These are not the only cases that the affiliated unions had handled. The other cases may not have been reported, but to the individual members affected it is just as important that the unions help them get a fair deal. It impacts directly on their livelihood.”
Between January 2003 and March 2004, the affiliated unions handled some 4,630 industrial relations cases, of which more than 70 per cent were resolved successfully at the company level. Work is still in progress to resolve the remaining cases. Only 6 per cent needed to be referred to the Manpower Ministry for conciliation and one case was referred to the Industrial Arbitration Court in 2003.
About 70 per cent of the industrial relations cases, or 3,244, were individual grievances. Individual grievances include unfair treatment, unfair dismissal and cases which involve union members being unfairly penalised on performance related issues.
Other industrial relations cases which union leaders handled in Year 2003 to March 2004 included:
• 577 cases arising from wage disputes
• 468 cases relating to collective agreements, such as non-compliance of the terms and condition of the collective agreement
• 246 cases where union leaders dealt with company restructuring to ensure that workers were treated fairly in the process. They also dealt with worker anxieties and in some cases helped workers go through training for the new jobs.
Noting the challenges faced by industrial relation officers and union leaders, Mr Lim said, “These industrial relations cases require tremendous efforts and professionalism from union leaders and the industrial relations officers in order that they can be resolved successfully.”
In spite of the tough economic climate last year, union leaders managed to secure 531 collective agreements. In these collective agreements, union leaders successfully negotiated and secured welfare benefits and other terms of employment for their bargainable members.
The unions also managed to negotiate 865 cases of wage settlements (annual increments and bonuses) for unionised workers in both the private and public sectors.
NTUC and Unions Play the Role of a Value-Adding Partner in Helping Workers Stay Competitive
Mr Lim said, “The role of NTUC, the unions and union leaders becomes all the more vital as the operating environment becomes more competitive. It is no longer just negotiating for better terms and conditions, but also playing the role of a value-adding partner in helping companies stay competitive. For example, the NTUC and unions helped companies with their wage restructuring exercises to achieve greater competitiveness. This will enhance the long term job prospects of workers. PSA’s case was a good example. The wage restructuring, while difficult, had helped PSA workers to enjoy the better bonuses when the company performed better.”
The NTUC and its affiliated unions worked closely with employers in many wage restructuring exercises to ensure that workers get a fair deal while helping the company to stay competitive. The wage restructuring exercises had helped to saved jobs in some companies.
One of such companies saved 200 jobs as a result of the successful implementation of wage restructuring exercise, in consultation with the union.
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 and Training for Jobs Programme. For the first half of this year, 1496 people were placed in jobs through the two programmes.
From 2003 to June 2004, NTUC achieved 63,371 training places through its Skills Redevelopment Programme (SRP), 37,380 training places NTUC Surrogate Employer Programme (SEP) and 38,313 training places through NTUC Education and Training Fund (N-ETF).
In the first six months of this year, NTUC, through JobLink, also managed to successfully place 2,270 workers into new jobs, compared to 1,500 workers for the whole of 2003.
Conclusion
Commenting on the results of the Social Report Card 2004, Mr Lim said, “I am pleased with the efforts put in by NTUC unions and the NTUC cooperatives. 2003 was a difficult year for many, with SARS, the economic downturn, and others. However, we did not lose sight of our founding mission – to protect and to enhance the interests of workers.
As the economy picks up speed, we must also be conscious that there is a group of workers who will face greater difficulties adjusting to the challenges of the new economy. We must not leave them behind. The NTUC, its affiliated unions and the NTUC cooperatives will remain focused in helping these workers cope with the challenges.”
