By Marcus Lin
How tripartism evolved and the role it played in Singapore over the years from 1965 to date was highlighted in a joint tripartite sharing on `Tripartism for a Competitive Economy and Inclusive Society’ at the International Forum on Tripartism on 26 October 2015.
NTUC President Diana Chia traced the changes in Singapore from 1965 to 1997. She showed what brought about industrial peace, labour law reforms and industrialisation that reduced unemployment and curbed industrial and social unrest. The priority was to attract more investments to create many jobs.
She also touched on the National Wages Council which was the 1st Tripartite Committee set up in 1972, the tripartite productivity drive and wage reform that took place from 1980-1997 as well as the causes of and the effective tripartite response to the 1985 recession.
Staying Resilient
SNEF President Robert Yap highlighted the role of tripartism in Singapore’s resilience from 1998-2009. He gave examples like how tripartism helped in combating the 1997 Asian financial crisis, economic volatility in the early 2000s, the 2008/09 global financial crisis, SARS in 2003, H1N1 in 2009, and haze in 2013 and 2015.
Minister of State for Manpower Teo Ser Luck shared on measures for inclusive and sustainable growth from 2010 onwards in an evolving operating environment. This included developing skills for the future, promoting fair employment practices, encouraging work-life harmony, increasing employability of older workers, supporting low-wage workers, and supporting companies in transformation efforts to promote stronger business growth and better careers for Singaporeans.
