NTUC Strategy Connects with American Academics and Labour Leaders and Welcomes New US Professors to LAB Network

What does the future of work look like, when disruptive forces like Artificial Intelligence (AI), the climate crisis, and geopolitical conflicts have prompted unprecedented uncertainty for workers?

For one week across New York, Washington D.C., Virginia, and New Jersey, this question was at the heart of a series of conversations between NTUC representatives Assistant Secretary-General Patrick Tay and Deputy Director Shawn Seah, and some of the United States’ foremost labour leaders, workforce experts, and academics, who have spent decades examining the changing world of work.

Research that shapes real-world outcomes

The delegation's first stop was Cornell University's Worker Institute, where Executive Director Dr Patricia Campos-Medina shared how the Institute supports the Labour Movement in New York through applied research, worker education, policy innovation, and leadership development.

Climate Jobs Institute Associates Grennan Milliken and Aaron Posner, and Research Support Specialist Nathan Lamm presented on America's clean energy transition. Across the US there were 14 active climate jobs coalitions, and states they worked with accounted for around 43% of US emissions. These coalitions bring together unions across sectors, including construction, utilities, manufacturing, services, and the public sector, to develop state-specific climate action plans and campaigns. 

The delegation also met researchers from Cornell's Global Labor Institute. Executive Director Jason Judd spoke to the importance of labour reporting moving beyond cosmetic reporting towards hard, quantitative labour metrics that measure real outcomes for workers. For instance, the Institute called for an annual wage-setting process in Bangladesh’s ready-made garment sector. Rather than collecting data for research alone, the Institute works directly with unions and worker organisations to translate evidence into practical solutions.

Artificial Intelligence (AI), surveillance, and the changing workplace

Brendan Griffith, President of the New York City Central Labor Council (NYC CLC), AFL-CIO, welcomed the NTUC delegation on the same day. The NYC CLC, AFL-CIO represents more than one million workers across around 300 affiliated unions.

Kevin Eitzmann, the Political Director for the New York State AFL-CIO, discussed New York’s proposed Bossware and Oppressive Technologies Act, or BOT Act, which concerns workplace surveillance, automated management systems, and AI-powered employment decision tools. While this bill has not yet passed, it has received support from labour and civil society groups because employers are increasingly using electronic surveillance, automated management tools, and AI systems to make decisions affecting workers’ careers and livelihoods. In other words, AI raises fundamental questions about worker agency, fairness and the future of quality jobs. Discussions explored how AI is changing not just jobs, but the skills required within them.

Building bridges across the labour movement

In Washington D.C., NTUC joined a roundtable hosted by the Burning Glass Institute, bringing together experts from Harvard University, the National Skills Coalition, the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality, the American Enterprise Institute, Apprenticeships for America, and other leading workforce organisations. The meeting surfaced many relevant partners for NTUC Strategy to keep ties with, in areas spanning apprenticeships, workforce policy, integration of skills and worker protections, and sectoral training funds for healthcare workers.

Several participants expressed keen interest in Singapore's tripartite model, SkillsFuture ecosystem, and NTUC’s Company Training Committees (CTCs) initiative, recognising Singapore's approach as one that integrates workforce development, employer transformation, and worker protection within a coherent national strategy.

A broader reflection was that workforce policy must be politically aware without becoming purely political. The most effective labour institutions are those that understand the political context, but remain focused on solving real problems for workers, firms, and the wider economy. 

At the Sands Institute for Lifelong Learning at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, the delegation connected with Chief Digital Learning Officer Dr Anne Trumbore and faculty. The delegation explored opportunities for both organisations to share their insights, resources, and ideas.

First, Singapore’s lifelong learning system is highly regarded. UVA’s interest in Singapore’s approach reminded us of the value of having a coordinated ecosystem across government, employers, unions, and training institutions. Second, placing workers at the heart of training and development remains the right long-term move, especially as AI, ageing, and business transformation reshape jobs and skills.

The final leg of the visit brought the delegation to Rutgers University's School of Management and Labor Relations, one of the US’ leading institutions dedicated to labour studies.

Discussions covered global labour trends like skills or competency-based hiring, AI transitions, and the environmental impact of data centres. The delegation and faculty also explored opportunities for international collaboration.

The delegation later enjoyed a tour of the Rutgers Labor Education Center, together with union leaders and labour educators from organisations including the AFL-CIO and the Labor Education Action Research Network (LEARN). Associate Teaching Professor Francis Ryan shared the history of the Center, including workers who contributed to the American Labour Movement. The visit emphasised the importance of dedicated spaces for worker education, organising, and reflection. 

Second, NTUC could explore whether selected IROs could attend suitable Rutgers courses or even Master’s programmes, should the opportunity arise. Given that the unionists were keen to learn more about NTUC’s digital/online learning, NTUC Strategy linked them up with LHUB colleagues to offer them access arrangements to LHUB’s LXP app on a trial basis. Through this, Rutgers and unions could better understand NTUC’s approach to online and worker-centred learning, and they in turn could potentially explore collaboration with LHUB.

Welcoming three distinguished leaders to the LAB network

The visit concluded with a new milestone for NTUC's Labour Alliance co-laB (LAB), which continues to grow as a global network connecting labour researchers, practitioners, and thought leaders.

NTUC is pleased to welcome three distinguished experts into the LAB network:

• Professor Paula Voos, Professor and Director of Undergraduate Programs, School of Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers University
• Dr Anne Trumbore, Chief Digital Learning Officer, Sands Institute for Lifelong Learning, University of Virginia Darden School of Business
• Dr Patricia Campos-Medina, Executive Director, Worker Institute, Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations

Collectively, they bring decades of expertise in labour research, workforce policy, skills education, and organisational transformation. Although the US and Singapore Labour Movements operate in different political, economic and cultural contexts, we are united by the common purpose of championing workers’ rights, livelihoods, and dignity. As we welcome our new LAB members, NTUC look forward to deepening these partnerships through opportunities to collaborate, exchange ideas, and jointly champion better outcomes for workers in Singapore and beyond.