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LABOUR chief Lim Swee Say yesterday identified three priority areas for the labour movement to focus on in the face of the difficult year ahead.
They are: help companies cut costs to prevent job losses; retrain workers for new jobs; and maintain programmes such as getting more women and older people to work, plus improving the pay and productivity of low-skilled workers.
'This is the best way for Singapore to pull through the global crisis,' he said in an e-mail message to unionists and NTUC staff on the first workday of 2009.
Mr Lim, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) secretary-general, also pledged the labour movement's commitment to work with the Government and employers 'to protect jobs and create growth'.
His comments were in response to the Prime Minister's New Year message which focused, among other things, on how the Government will step up efforts to help companies and citizens cope with the current slump, and to protect jobs.
PM Lee Hsien Loong had also urged bosses, unionists and Singaporeans to band together and help one another ride out the recession.
In outlining the NTUC's three 'core priorities' this year, Mr Lim also described how the turmoil has dented the economy: 'We see idle capacity at our factories, seaport and air-cargo operations. We see a drop in hotel occupancy and ticket sales of concert events.'
He added: 'We share the concerns of retailers in surviving the lull period between Chinese New Year and the Great Singapore Sale.'
He is also worried about the growing number of workers affected by layoffs, reduced overtime and a shorter work- week.
'This is why we must be pro-active in working closely with management and Government to improve productivity and reduce total costs - wage costs and non-wage costs - as best as we can.
'We need to be even more flexible and adaptable in 2009, because more cost reduction for our businesses would mean more jobs saved,' he said.
But the recession does not mean 'zero job creation', he reminded unionists.
'We will lose some of our existing jobs due to a drastic drop in global demand. However, many job sectors are still employing and some new ones will be taking off in 2009.'
He cited jobs in sectors such as education, health care, marine, construction and public transport, as well as openings in new hotels, shopping malls and the upcoming integrated resorts.
The challenge, he said, is to get workers not to just look for the 'same job with the same pay'.
'We must help them understand that the world has changed and the Singapore economy will have to change even faster to stay competitive.
'We need them to believe in themselves and be willing to adapt to new job demands, so that we can help them up-skill and re-skill to take on new and different jobs in different industries.'
Mr Lim also reminded unionists not to neglect long-term objectives, such as getting more women and older folk into the workforce, and improving the lot of low-wage workers.
While the crisis will affect the pace of these efforts, he said: 'We must not allow these initiatives to stall in 2009.'
Unionists agreed with Mr Lim's advice on the need to work with employers to cut costs to save jobs.
Mr Francis Lim, president of the United Workers of Electronic and Electrical Industries, said it is in talks with some manufacturing companies for a longer shutdown during the Chinese New Year festive period.
'We encourage companies to consider these measures first before thinking of cutting pay or retrenchment,' he said.
Mr Joseph Chua, assistant secretary-general of the Singapore Manual and Mercantile Workers' Union, said it has urged companies to send workers for training during lull periods, or introduce flexible work arrangements.
