Critical for union leaders to faithfully reflect workers' views, hopes amid challenges: President Halimah

SINGAPORE - It is a challenging time for Singapore workers, with the war in Ukraine pushing up living costs and electricity prices, said President Halimah Yacob on Thursday (March 31) as she told young union leaders at a dialogue that they had their work cut out.

She noted that the conflict comes amid supply chain disruptions sparked by the Covid-19 pandemic, which have affected workers in the shipping and logistics industries and pushed up costs for businesses around the world.

At the same time, strained relations between the United States and China threaten to bifurcate the world economy with profound implications for globalisation, she said at the session at the Istana.

In the face of these challenges, it is critical for union leaders to faithfully reflect the views, aspirations and hopes of workers, so as to better represent their interests, she added.

She noted that while the situation is challenging, it is not all doom and gloom, as the push for sustainability, digitalisation and innovation will also bring opportunities.

President Halimah made the remarks at a dialogue with 30 Young NTUC union leaders, all aged 35 years and below, during which she shared her experience as a unionist and discussed issues such as the concerns of freelancers and the mental health of workers.

Among the challenges facing the unions these days is a workforce that has become increasingly fragmented, said Madam Halimah, who was with the NTUC for over 30 years and rose to be its deputy secretary-general from 2007 to 2011.

She noted that "in the old days" when she was with the labour movement, workers were largely full-time employees. Now, with more freelance and contract workers, their expectations have evolved, and the work of unionists has become more complicated. The labour movement must represent the specific interests of the different groups, while also taking care of the broad interests of all workers, she said.

"In the labour movement, the going is always tough," she added, to laughter and applause. "But we've never been... weak hearted, we have always been tough. And I'm sure you all will continue to be tough and continue to do your work."

Several participants at the one-hour dialogue lamented that the younger generation of workers are not as familiar as older generations with Singapore's model of tripartism, which has seen unions, employers and the Government collaborate successfully to help workers for decades.

Acknowledging the difficulties union leaders face in explaining tripartism to younger workers, Madam Halimah said she hoped they would persevere in helping people understand this critical pillar of society that has helped the country progress.

She suggested that the labour movement should offer internship programmes or involve polytechnic or university students in collective bargaining sessions, so that the students can see how unions negotiate for better welfare for workers.

She added that she too was worried that people would begin to think of tripartism as "just another word that we bandy around".

NTUC secretary-general Ng Chee Meng, who was also at the dialogue, said for the labour movement to remain relevant to younger workers, union leaders would need to have a clear idea of their needs. For instance, the unions have worked with some companies in the manufacturing industries to revamp their workplaces and processes to help attract younger workers, he added.

Besides helping with jobs, the labour movement would also have to think about whether there are any "life problems" that it can help workers with through its social enterprises, he said, in the same way that earlier generations of workers had forged a relationship with NTUC via FairPrice supermarkets.

It is through such interactions that workers and employers will come to trust the labour movement and believe in Singapore's model of tripartism, he added.

A participant also asked Madam Halimah for her views on the growing number of young people turning to freelance work.

The President said it was important to understand why people were choosing to do freelance work, noting that some might want more flexibility while others want more variety, and others may have gone into it because they could not get full-time jobs. The last group is the one that may end up with little savings for retirement, and that is where the labour movement can step in to help, she added.

Another participant asked about the mental health of workers amid long working hours in the security industry, where 12-hour shifts are common.

Madam Halimah said one way to help would be to limit the total number of hours they can work in a week, so they might work say, four days a week and have three days off. She added that the fundamental problem was the shortage of manpower in the security sector, and companies would have to make jobs more attractive, such as through the use of technology, to solve this problem.