By Ramesh Subbaraman
Tripartite leaders from all countries are pre-occupied with one goal, and that is exploring ways to transform the lives of workers so they become better, said Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say.
Building Trust
Summing up the day-long International Forum on Tripartism, he noted for this desired outcome, it is important that tripartism becomes a permanent feature in all nations.
Minister Lim explained countries have to ensure that tripartism survives not only during good times but also during bad times.
“During good times, it is important that we continue to build trust so that come to bad times, there is enough trust in the trust bank for us to draw on,” said Minister Lim.
Questions From The Floor
During the hour-long plenary session chaired by former President of the Singapore National Employers Federation Stephen Lee, forum delegates posed several questions.
Foreign delegates asked for details of benefits that foreign workers can enjoy when the work in Singapore.
NTUC President Diana Chia spoke about the role of the Migrant Workers’ Centre in Singapore and efforts to ensure that foreign workers too are sent for training and upgrading programmes.
A local union leader from the Union of Power and Gas Employees (UPAGE) touched on the role for young union members in upholding tripartism.
In reply, NTUC Secretary-General Chan Chun Sing said: “We really have to start young and ensure that tripartism, as a philosophy and concept, is practised not just at the highest level but at every level down to the sectoral level.
“It is more important that before the issues get surfaced to the very top, at every intermediate level, we have the same tripartite spirit of cooperation, that they can resolve things at their level without having it to surface at the highest level.”
He added that this spirit of trust must be maintained if the leaders change companies and jobs.
Source: NTUC This Week
