By Gurmeet Singh

NTUC President Mary Liew, NTUC Secretary-General (SG) Ng Chee Meng, who is also Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, and key union representatives had their first meeting with the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) Chairman Wang Dongming, also the Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, on 14 November 2019.

The Singapore group, invited by ACFTU to visit Beijing from 13 to 15 November 2019, also included NTUC Vice-President Abdul Samad Abdul Wahab, NTUC Central Committee Member Ken Tan and NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Desmond Choo.

NTUC President Mary Liew said: “NTUC and ACFTU enjoy close and longstanding relations. In addition to the stream of exchange programmes that we have embarked on with ACFTU, this visit was a timely one for us to call upon Brother Wang Dongming and his team, to foster stronger connections and deepen partnerships with our Chinese counterparts, not only at the enterprise level but also through exchange opportunities in the future for our workforce.”

Exchanging Ideas

Topics that came up for discussions included the challenges and opportunities in training, spurred by the onset of Industry 4.0. Both sides also exchanged views on the important role of the trade union and how it could continue to be relevant to workers.

On the topic of an ageing population, ACFTU leaders appreciated how NTUC and its social enterprises had taken the first step to raise the retirement and re-employment ages for their workforce ahead of the national schedule.

The visit also included learning journeys to BHG Lifestyle (Supermarket) and Cheetah Mobile. The NTUC delegation had a chance to see first-hand how both companies have leveraged digitalisation and employed robotics solutions to improve productivity and enhancing consumer experience.