NTUC must reinvent itself in tandem with the times: DPM Wong

Unions in Singapore must stay relevant in a changing landscape, be responsive to fresh challenges and be representative of the changing workforce, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said yesterday.

Noting the sometimes fraught state of labour relations elsewhere, he said that the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) will have to evolve or reinvent itself in tandem with the times, even as its fundamental role of being the voice and champion of workers remains unchanged.

"If the NTUC remains strong, then we can take heart that we are moving in the right direction, and Singapore will continue to be successful," he said.

Mr Wong was speaking at the Suntec Singapore Convention Centre during a Young NTUC event called LIT DISCOvery 2022, which is aimed at helping youth learn how to harness technology better.

At the event, NTUC launched a task force to better understand the work-life aspirations of youth and support them in their careers.

There will be a year-long en-gagement, after which the task force will share insights and recommendations on how to better support youth.

Mr Wong, who is also Finance Minister, said the conversations and insights from the engagement will feed into the broader Forward Singapore exercise which he launched last month to refresh and strengthen the country's social compact.

In his speech, Mr Wong also said the state of labour relations gives a clue to the overall health of any society and acts as a litmus test of how strong the society and its social compact are.

Trade union membership has declined considerably across most developed countries, and this is partly because of the confrontational tactics pursued by many trade unions in the West in the 1960s and 1970s, he said.

The unions took a strident, aggressive approach and lost the support of the broad middle of their societies, he added.

This led to the defeat of social democratic parties in these countries, and the rise of pro-market conservative parties in the 80s.

Mr Wong cited former US president Ronald Reagan and former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher as examples of "transformative figures" who were supported by their populations to counter the excesses of the political left, including unions.

But the decline of unions in these countries has also caused the wages of rank-and-file workers across Europe and the United States to became depressed, which created a greater divide between the haves and the have-nots, Mr Wong said.

He said the recent resurgence of unionisation efforts is an uphill battle as many powerful corporations still see unions as harmful to their growth and profits.

"It is no wonder that many of these societies have become fraught with tension. There is no consensus on how to move forward to implement important issues, and progress becomes ever more elusive," the minister said.

The lesson for Singapore, and its younger unionists, workers and students in particular, is not to take for granted the Republic's harmonious tripartite relations as they are neither a given nor a natural state of affairs, he said.

He added: "Let us consider how we can build upon the foundation that we have today - this strong foundation of trust to further strengthen the labour movement - and do our utmost to not just preserve what we have inherited, but to make it better.

"To do that, the NTUC must continue to be forward-looking and progressive, especially as we refresh our social compact."