The Labour Movement joins with women around the world to celebrate International Women’s Day which falls on 8 March. For this year’s celebrations, the NTUC Women’s Development Secretariat (WDS) has organised a host of activities for women and their families. Held on 10 March 2012, Saturday, at the Esplanade Park, the event saw some 2,000 union members, women job seekers and their families join in the festivities. The event was also supported by U Family.
Happiness Poll survey
U Family carried out an online poll in December 2011 of working persons with families to find out how else the Labour Movement can support women back to work. (For more information on Happiness Poll, please refer to Annex A.)
A total of 485 members responded. Four in 5 respondents (80%) indicated they are happy. More than half of the respondents (56%) cited their families and children as their source of happiness. Having the support from their extended families, friends and colleagues, and enjoying good health are the next two popular reasons for being happy. 74% of the respondents also felt that their spouse was playing an active role in the family. Mdm Belinda Koh, Mdm Alicia Cher and Mdm Marinah are three respondents who indicated their overall happiness level as above average in the online poll. All three women received strong support from their families and employers both at home and at work. (Please refer to Annex B for their stories.)
On the other hand, some of the reasons cited by respondents for unhappiness included financial concerns (20%), work related frustration (15%) and the lack of work-life balance (14%). This showed that Singapore needed to work at better work-life integration and cultivating good family friendly work practices to reduce the stress of working persons.
The poll results affirmed that a strong family network contributes to a person’s happiness. But to build better lives, the support from the tripartite partners would be needed to help push for a more conducive working environment for working people.
Labour Movement efforts to create a happy environment for women
Although the Labour Movement has made progress with back-to-work women, it will still need to intensify efforts to provide holistic support for women who intend to return to the workforce and help those who are already in employment, to stay in the workforce as well as support mothers at the workplace.
NTUC WDS’s key focus this year is to work with community partners and stakeholders to bring better employment opportunities for women. They will also explore other channels of outreach as well as collaborate with NTUC social enterprises, who are located island wide, to see how it can connect better with the heartlanders.
NTUC WDS is also working closely with NTUC’s e2i and NTUC LearningHub to contextualise generic training programmes for women who are looking to return to work. Practical skills and tips and learning activities would centre on addressing the challenges and needs of these women.
On the part of employers, NTUC WDS wants to help companies be able to tap into this pool of talent as well as retain those who are already working. The successful implementation of flexible work arrangement (FWA) contributes to a happier and more conducive work environment. This is both a win-win for employers and employees. Companies would be able to attract, motivate and retain dedicated, committed and happy female employees.
To help employers do this, NTUC WDS is organising a series of FWA Workshops for both employers and employees to share strategies and ideas for implementing and requesting for flexible time at work.
A series of lunchtime talks centering on work-life are also being organised by NTUC WDS and U Family this year to address how working individuals could better harmonise their family and work demands and commitments. Both units are also collaborating on a new project to identify and recognise 20 best companies who have demonstrated good work-life policies and family friendly practices. NTUC WDS’s iconic – Little Ones @ Work – would also take on a new dimension to advocate a happy environment for women back to work.
International Women’s Day celebration event
Highlights of today’s International Women’s Day included a ‘Happiness Fun Walk’ which has participants tagged with different messages that advocated the needs of today’s working women and the factors that would make them happy. NTUC Secretary-General Lim Swee Say, together with other special guests, Mdm Halimah Yacob, Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports, and Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister of State for Finance and Transport, joined NTUC President Diana Chia and other women union leaders in the Saturday morning walk and activities.
A job employment preview with more than 800 vacancies from 10 employers was also be held on the event grounds for women job seekers. These jobs were selected because they were suitable for women. Most of them also offered flexible or part-time working hours.
NTUC social enterprises and the Labour Movement communities also had a presence at the festivities.
