Need to practise retrenching to fine tune process woh!
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Layoffs: A need to work it out together
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Most companies here support open dialogue and communication with labour unions </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Goh Chin Lian, Senior Political Correspondent
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
</TD><TD vAlign=bottom>
-- PHOTO: THE BUSINESS TIMES
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD>
View more photos
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->
DBS Bank's bombshell announcement that it was shedding 900 jobs so spooked employees at United Overseas Bank (UOB) that the union contacted management last week to fix a meeting - pronto.
Says UOB's union branch chairman Michael Lim: 'We want to find out about the direction of our bank. They may not have news, but sometimes no news is good news.'
Unions like the one Mr Lim heads trust the management to consult them first ahead of any bad news that may have an impact on members.
But recent revelations regarding the retrenchment exercise at DBS, the largest local bank and still seen by many as a government-linked entity, have cast a shadow on management-union relations here.
Last Friday, labour chief Lim Swee Say rapped DBS for its sudden decision to retrench staff.
The move caught union leaders off-guard.
'There was no prior consultation with the DBS Staff Union. There was no exploration with the union on other cost-reduction alternatives,' Mr Lim, who is secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), said in an e-mailed statement.
'Perception on the ground is that DBS has decided on retrenchment as the first resort. It has weakened the trust between the management and the union.
'Ground reaction is critical and highly negative. It is regrettable...'
=> Regret got use meh? Learn from the Hongkees how to fight for your rights and stand your ground lah!
Which explains why unionists and employers from the banking and other sectors tell The Sunday Times that they favour a more cooperative approach towards handling layoffs.
It is one based on open communication and trust. In some industries, the protocol is also agreed to beforehand in collective agreements.
The level of openness between management and union varies from company to company. But unionists say such a relationship thrives when there is regular dialogue and personal contact established over the years.
UOB's Mr Lim says he and his union leaders have monthly meetings with representatives from the human resource department to discuss issues affecting employees.
The human resource manager is just a phone call away.
'He'll respond to my call. We've a long working relationship of more than 10 years,' says Mr Lim.
While most companies use human resource managers as the point man when dealing with unions - although some may be out of the loop on management decisions until it is too late for discussions - there are also chief executives who take the time to meet union leaders.
Singapore Airlines Staff Union president Alan Tan, for instance, has business lunches every quarter with SIA chief executive Chew Choon Seng and chairman Stephen Lee.
He had lunch with Mr Lee just a week ago at one of their informal get-togethers.
'I know what he's going through. We'll definitely do our part to help the company,' he says.
Soaring fuel costs dragged SIA's second-quarter net profit down 36 per cent to $324 million. This meant a 26 per cent slide in profits for the half-year from April to September to $682 million. But SIA says it is not contemplating cuts in staff or manhours.
But not all company bosses are open or proactive.
In such cases, some unions, like the Singapore Industrial and Services Employees' Union which has more than 80 branches, make the first move.
The union's leaders and industrial relations officers visit companies - about four to eight a month - to talk to management and workers.
Others, like the United Workers of Electronic and Electrical Industries (UWEEI), also monitor the company's performance and approach management first if they think the company could be in trouble.
While management may keep channels open, and unions take the initiative to get feedback from management, the key ingredient in the relationship between the two is trust.
And as Mr Lim, the NTUC chief, noted last Friday, 'trust takes a long time to build but a short time to destroy'.
The best opportunity to develop this arises when leaders from both sides endeavour to get in the trenches together - whether to resolve employees' complaints, negotiate collective agreements every few years, or brainstorm measures to ride out the tough times that come inevitably with business cycles.
Practice makes perfect
Some industries are hit more often by such ups and downs. Companies in these industries are less likely to take unions for granted, as they realise that good ties are crucial in order to garner support from workers for cost-cutting.
Take the export-led electronics sector, which faces frequent bouts of retrenchment when, say, a factory relocates to another country.
It has become a norm for employers to give unions advance notice - from five days to a few months - before announcing layoffs, says UWEEI general secretary Cyrille Tan.
=> Wow! The situation is actually so bad that it has become a "norm". Why no report in the 154th?
'The important thing is that we can add value to management, such as by persuading workers to go for training instead of having a temporary shutdown,' he explains.
'Once they treat you as a partner, they are likely to collaborate with you.'
SIA also found unions to be important in communicating tough decisions to employees and getting support in difficult times like the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the post-Sept-11 downturn in travel, and when Sars hit the region. That period saw cuts in capacity, wages and staff.
SIA spokesman Stephen Forshaw says: 'We've learnt through these times that we need to keep our people well informed about the situation and its impact on our business, and engage them in developing solutions to respond to challenges.
'We do that through our unions and direct communication with our people. Our unions are all workplace unions so (they) understand the importance of the company maintaining profitability and stability.'
In e-mailed replies to The Sunday Times, leading Singapore companies such as SingTel, OCBC Bank and utilities and marine group
Sembcorp Industries expressed similar sentiments about the value of good ties with unions and their commitment to keeping them informed of important developments.
In the dark
Observers, however, note that some company bosses may have their hands tied when it comes to how much they can tell unions.
One reason: They may not be privy to decisions made by their overseas headquarters.
They also worry that adverse news could be leaked and affect prices if the company is listed on the stock exchange.
While local banks are listed and may have such concerns, Singapore Bank Employees' Union general secretary Bobby Tay argues that historically, this has not impeded them from letting unions in early on important developments.
'We've been handling retrenchments since the 1980s,' says Mr Tay, whose union represents employees in 36 banks - excluding DBS, which has an in-house union.
'We've never encountered a single case of an employer announcing retrenchment first, and the union comes to know about it second.'
OCBC's head of group corporate communications Koh Ching Ching agrees: 'For major decisions concerning employees, we will engage the union.'
But longstanding trust may not hold up indefinitely given that top management and union leaders may change.
And in today's volatile business environment where cycles have become shortened, business conditions may get so bad that management feels it must take swift and decisive action.
One solution to coping with such pressures is to have it spelt out in collective agreements that unions have to be told of layoffs - say a month in advance - in writing.
The Singapore Manual and Mercantile Workers' Union (SMMWU) - the country's largest union representing 82,000 workers in industries from department stores and trading houses to private hospitals and foreign airlines - has such an agreement.
SMMWU assistant secretary-general Joseph Chua says the advance notice gives the union time to scrutinise the list of people to be laid off, and make recommendations.
'Sometimes the person could be the sole breadwinner, so we'll tell the company. Or we may discuss if there is another lower salary position where we can fit him in.'
Bank unions do not have such a clause in their collective agreements. The closest is a clause requiring the union to be told in advance of changes to working hours.
Recent developments suggest that a clause on giving unions advance notice about layoffs may have to be more widely considered - even if an environment of open communication and trust already underpins management-union ties. [email protected]
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Layoffs: A need to work it out together
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Most companies here support open dialogue and communication with labour unions </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Goh Chin Lian, Senior Political Correspondent
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
-- PHOTO: THE BUSINESS TIMES
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->
DBS Bank's bombshell announcement that it was shedding 900 jobs so spooked employees at United Overseas Bank (UOB) that the union contacted management last week to fix a meeting - pronto.
Says UOB's union branch chairman Michael Lim: 'We want to find out about the direction of our bank. They may not have news, but sometimes no news is good news.'
Unions like the one Mr Lim heads trust the management to consult them first ahead of any bad news that may have an impact on members.
But recent revelations regarding the retrenchment exercise at DBS, the largest local bank and still seen by many as a government-linked entity, have cast a shadow on management-union relations here.
Last Friday, labour chief Lim Swee Say rapped DBS for its sudden decision to retrench staff.
The move caught union leaders off-guard.
'There was no prior consultation with the DBS Staff Union. There was no exploration with the union on other cost-reduction alternatives,' Mr Lim, who is secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), said in an e-mailed statement.
'Perception on the ground is that DBS has decided on retrenchment as the first resort. It has weakened the trust between the management and the union.
'Ground reaction is critical and highly negative. It is regrettable...'
=> Regret got use meh? Learn from the Hongkees how to fight for your rights and stand your ground lah!
Which explains why unionists and employers from the banking and other sectors tell The Sunday Times that they favour a more cooperative approach towards handling layoffs.
It is one based on open communication and trust. In some industries, the protocol is also agreed to beforehand in collective agreements.
The level of openness between management and union varies from company to company. But unionists say such a relationship thrives when there is regular dialogue and personal contact established over the years.
UOB's Mr Lim says he and his union leaders have monthly meetings with representatives from the human resource department to discuss issues affecting employees.
The human resource manager is just a phone call away.
'He'll respond to my call. We've a long working relationship of more than 10 years,' says Mr Lim.
While most companies use human resource managers as the point man when dealing with unions - although some may be out of the loop on management decisions until it is too late for discussions - there are also chief executives who take the time to meet union leaders.
Singapore Airlines Staff Union president Alan Tan, for instance, has business lunches every quarter with SIA chief executive Chew Choon Seng and chairman Stephen Lee.
He had lunch with Mr Lee just a week ago at one of their informal get-togethers.
'I know what he's going through. We'll definitely do our part to help the company,' he says.
Soaring fuel costs dragged SIA's second-quarter net profit down 36 per cent to $324 million. This meant a 26 per cent slide in profits for the half-year from April to September to $682 million. But SIA says it is not contemplating cuts in staff or manhours.
But not all company bosses are open or proactive.
In such cases, some unions, like the Singapore Industrial and Services Employees' Union which has more than 80 branches, make the first move.
The union's leaders and industrial relations officers visit companies - about four to eight a month - to talk to management and workers.
Others, like the United Workers of Electronic and Electrical Industries (UWEEI), also monitor the company's performance and approach management first if they think the company could be in trouble.
While management may keep channels open, and unions take the initiative to get feedback from management, the key ingredient in the relationship between the two is trust.
And as Mr Lim, the NTUC chief, noted last Friday, 'trust takes a long time to build but a short time to destroy'.
The best opportunity to develop this arises when leaders from both sides endeavour to get in the trenches together - whether to resolve employees' complaints, negotiate collective agreements every few years, or brainstorm measures to ride out the tough times that come inevitably with business cycles.
Practice makes perfect
Some industries are hit more often by such ups and downs. Companies in these industries are less likely to take unions for granted, as they realise that good ties are crucial in order to garner support from workers for cost-cutting.
Take the export-led electronics sector, which faces frequent bouts of retrenchment when, say, a factory relocates to another country.
It has become a norm for employers to give unions advance notice - from five days to a few months - before announcing layoffs, says UWEEI general secretary Cyrille Tan.
=> Wow! The situation is actually so bad that it has become a "norm". Why no report in the 154th?
'The important thing is that we can add value to management, such as by persuading workers to go for training instead of having a temporary shutdown,' he explains.
'Once they treat you as a partner, they are likely to collaborate with you.'
SIA also found unions to be important in communicating tough decisions to employees and getting support in difficult times like the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the post-Sept-11 downturn in travel, and when Sars hit the region. That period saw cuts in capacity, wages and staff.
SIA spokesman Stephen Forshaw says: 'We've learnt through these times that we need to keep our people well informed about the situation and its impact on our business, and engage them in developing solutions to respond to challenges.
'We do that through our unions and direct communication with our people. Our unions are all workplace unions so (they) understand the importance of the company maintaining profitability and stability.'
In e-mailed replies to The Sunday Times, leading Singapore companies such as SingTel, OCBC Bank and utilities and marine group
Sembcorp Industries expressed similar sentiments about the value of good ties with unions and their commitment to keeping them informed of important developments.
In the dark
Observers, however, note that some company bosses may have their hands tied when it comes to how much they can tell unions.
One reason: They may not be privy to decisions made by their overseas headquarters.
They also worry that adverse news could be leaked and affect prices if the company is listed on the stock exchange.
While local banks are listed and may have such concerns, Singapore Bank Employees' Union general secretary Bobby Tay argues that historically, this has not impeded them from letting unions in early on important developments.
'We've been handling retrenchments since the 1980s,' says Mr Tay, whose union represents employees in 36 banks - excluding DBS, which has an in-house union.
'We've never encountered a single case of an employer announcing retrenchment first, and the union comes to know about it second.'
OCBC's head of group corporate communications Koh Ching Ching agrees: 'For major decisions concerning employees, we will engage the union.'
But longstanding trust may not hold up indefinitely given that top management and union leaders may change.
And in today's volatile business environment where cycles have become shortened, business conditions may get so bad that management feels it must take swift and decisive action.
One solution to coping with such pressures is to have it spelt out in collective agreements that unions have to be told of layoffs - say a month in advance - in writing.
The Singapore Manual and Mercantile Workers' Union (SMMWU) - the country's largest union representing 82,000 workers in industries from department stores and trading houses to private hospitals and foreign airlines - has such an agreement.
SMMWU assistant secretary-general Joseph Chua says the advance notice gives the union time to scrutinise the list of people to be laid off, and make recommendations.
'Sometimes the person could be the sole breadwinner, so we'll tell the company. Or we may discuss if there is another lower salary position where we can fit him in.'
Bank unions do not have such a clause in their collective agreements. The closest is a clause requiring the union to be told in advance of changes to working hours.
Recent developments suggest that a clause on giving unions advance notice about layoffs may have to be more widely considered - even if an environment of open communication and trust already underpins management-union ties. [email protected]
