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Published01 MAY, 2018
UPDATED 01 MAY, 2018
SINGAPORE — New unions will be set up in new sectors of the economy to broaden the Labour Movement’s outreach to workers and spur industry transformation, said Mr Chan Chun Sing on Tuesday (May 1) in his final May Day Rally speech as secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).
Besides the new Supply Chain Employees’ Union announced on Monday (April 30), Mr Chan said the NTUC would do the same in the infocomm technology and finance sectors.
This would ensure it continues to be representative of the concerns of the “broad middle” of the Singapore workforce amid change.
Mr Chan, who became Minister for Trade and Industry on Tuesday, also spoke about tearing down the “artificial” divide between rank-and-file workers and PMETs – or professionals, managers, executives and technicians – to the audience at Downtown East.
“We have just working people in Singapore. And it is interchangeable. It doesn’t matter if we are called rank-and-file or PMETs. We are all working people of Singapore who must focus on skills upgrading for ourselves,” he said.
Efforts by NTUC to promote workers of all types coming together include the Healthcare Services Employees’ Union working with the Association of Psychotherapists and Counsellors, and the Food, Drinks & Allied Workers Union working with the Singapore Institute of Food Science and Technology, he said.
Mr Chan stressed that the importance of seeing through the 23 industry transformation maps (ITMs) that have been rolled out, as well as close collaboration by NTUC with the Manpower, Trade and Industry and Education ministries for the benefit of workers.
“Every country has great plans for the workers… The question is whether we can execute such plans and execute them well,” said Mr Chan. “And if anybody can execute a plan well, we believe that the Singapore Labour Movement, in partnership with our tripartite partners, must be one of them.”
New NTUC deputy secretary-general Koh Poh Koon – who will retain his role as Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry – will be the “secret weapon” and “additional interface” in ensuring that the ITMs are closely aligned with the Labour Movement, said Mr Chan.
For Singapore to be able to do well in the next lap, it is key for the government to see through every ITM “one by one, sector by sector, company by company” until new jobs and markets are created, he said.
“Once (workers) see the new jobs created, they see the new opportunities, they will come on board and take the training without us telling them,” he said.
“We are not here to protect jobs. We are here to protect the workers. And if technology changes, if the job changes, we must make sure that our workers… are able to get onto the new platforms, get a new job, a better salary to take care of their families,” said Mr Chan.
