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Mr Speaker Sir,
The Labour Movement supports the broad directions of the Government set out in the motion of the President’s address. Underpinning these is the strong foundation of trust that was demonstrated and strengthened through our shared experience during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the NTUC, our vision is for "a better and more meaningful life where workers of all collars, ages, and nationalities can work, live and play together in Singapore.” And we achieve this through Singapore’s unique brand of tripartism in which the Labour Movement stands shoulder to shoulder with our partners towards the shared objective of growing the economy, to secure better wages, welfare and work prospects for all workers.
I. TRIPARTISM
In the pandemic, our local businesses and workers were heavily impacted. NTUC worked closely with the Government to coordinate assistance programmes to protect lives and livelihoods. Our support ranged from unions’ ground efforts with companies to “cut costs to save jobs”, to the provision of cash relief to union members and workers and helping tens of thousands of workers with skills retraining and job placements.
All these policies and assistance programmes are not possible without the trust and value that Tripartism had achieved over the years. As Prime Minister Mr Lee Hsien Loong had said in his speech at May Day Rally 2018, “Tripartism has seen us through every crisis since independence. ... Through our first major recessions, the oil crisis in 1970s, the major recession in 1985… It showed us through the Asian Financial Crisis, SARS, and the Global Financial Crisis. Each time the challenges seemed daunting, sometimes even overwhelming. But without the Labour Movement partnering companies, without the NTUC partnering the PAP in a symbiotic relationship, without the Government, unions and businesses sharing responsibility for Singapore’s future, we would not have made it here.” Tripartite trust built up over decades withstood many trials and tribulations in our young history and was strengthened after each and every crisis. COVID-19 was no exception. We must continue to strengthen this trust that is the basis of tripartism for the future.
II. LM’S FOCUS AREAS IN THE NEXT TERM – OPPORTUNITIES, ASSURANCE & RESILIENCE FOR WORKERS
Going forward, the Labour Movement will persist in our efforts to protect the rights and to advance the aspirations and interests of all workers.
The future of work will have new sets of challenges and difficulties. Ever-evolving geopolitics, technological advancements and disruptions, and socio-cultural shifts, NTUC will renew and strengthen our compact with our workers.
To do so, NTUC launched the #EveryWorkerMatters Conversations or #EWMC in short last year, to refresh our compact with workers and to give greater assurance that we will be alongside them and champion their cause.
Through the #EWMC, we have heard the voices of various groups of workers across all ages, sectors, and backgrounds, and we will adjust our strategies to meet their needs and aspirations.
I will share three main areas that NTUC will focus our efforts on going forward:
Expand career opportunities,
Enhance assurance and protection, and
Ensure career resilience.
[a] Expand Career Opportunities
Let me start with the first area “expand career opportunities”, with a quote from the President last week: “Every Singaporean must have the opportunity to take on work they find fulfilling and meaningful, build on their talents, give of their best, and be rewarded fairly for it.”
At NTUC, we want to provide each worker an equal chance to choose a career they want, and advance further in the way they hope to grow and develop. Let me highlight two worker segments and our plans for them:
Workers in skilled essential trades:
First, is skilled tradesmen. In Feb 2023, Sec-Gen mooted the Career Progression Model (CPM) as part of our efforts to uplift workers in skilled essential trades, to develop their skills, help them attain mastery, and build long-term careers. The CPM was a continuation of what NTUC Sec-Gen said previously in 2020 and 2021 about professionalising the solar technologist and plumbers respectively through a Career Development Plan. COVID-19 border restrictions revealed an urgent need to step up our efforts to uplift this sector.
There are currently more than 50,000 local workers in skilled trades, ranging from Electrical & Electronic Trades, Building & Related Trades Workers amongst others.
There is a growing concern of a “skilled trades gap” as the older generation retires, coupled with the lack of qualified candidates to take on these jobs. According to the Singapore Labour Force Survey 2022, more than half of ‘Craftsmen & Related Trades Workers’ are currently above 50 years old.
NTUC wants to ensure a sustainable supply of locals into these trades to meet our national needs. To start off, NTUC will prioritise three essential trades that have a direct effect on the daily life of Singaporeans - plumbers, electricians, and air-con technicians.
Supporting these workers is also part of our social compact to be a more inclusive society, that values not just cognitive skills but also technical skills as well.
Youths and young workers:
Another key group that we set out to engage is youths. Youths today are faced with a more competitive education and employment landscape. At the height of COVID-19 when there were limited jobs, the SGUnited Traineeships Programme has been a tremendous help. But NTUC believes that our younger workers, embarking on their first steps of their careers, will need more support.
We want our future workforce to be able to dream big, aspire high and achieve their fullest potential in a wide range of career opportunities.
NMP Raj Joshua Thomas will be pleased to know that we will be working with IHL partners on this. NTUC’s networks with industry and with workers of different cohorts make us well placed to link them up with internship opportunities and career mentors across different sectors. We will share more on our plans over the next few months.
[
b] Enhance Career Assurance and Protection
The second area of focus is to enhance career assurance and protection. We want to support our workers with their immediate concerns in tackling higher cost of living, and also in addressing mid to longer term issues on job security, unemployment support, retirement adequacy and care-giving support.
For our
lower-wage workers: The Labour Movement has been actively pushing for more workers to be covered under the Progressive Wage Model (PWM). We have made much progress in uplifting lower-wage workers and will continue to press on to cover all sectors and implement the PWM in good time.
Our
mid-career workers (especially those 40 to 50 years of age) is another segment of workers who are vulnerable to industry disruptions and restructuring and in a particularly precarious position should they lose their jobs, as they generally have more dependents and financial responsibilities. We will continue to advocate for income support for those who lose their jobs, tied to active job seeking and reskilling. Brother Patrick Tay has been championing for unemployment support and protection since 2014, and I am sure he will continue to push for it.
SEPs/Freelancers: NTUC recognises that more protections should be accorded to our freelance and self-employed workers, including platform workers. The recent announcement on work injuries compensation, improving housing and retirement adequacy, and enhancing representation is a welcomed move. We will continue to work closely with the Tripartite partners to see through the implementation and to further strengthen their representation.
Our Senior workers should be tapped upon and valued for their experience and industry knowledge. Our workers must also be assured that they are able to achieve basic retirement adequacy.
Caregivers: Finally, workers with caregiving responsibilities often find it challenging to balance their career aspirations, finances, and caring for their loved ones. We want to look into how we can provide more support in this area, to reduce both the mental and emotional load on our caregivers.
[c] Ensure Career Resilience
The third area of focus for NTUC is to ensure Career Resilience. As global job market evolves, our workers will experience change and disruption over their career lifetime.
And this increases the importance of career resilience. To plan for a longer horizon, NTUC will support our workers to handle career changes, by developing new and deepening existing skills to stay relevant and competitive.
During the budget debate, I have called for training allowances to give mid-career workers greater peace of mind in undergoing SkillsFuture Career Transition Programme. I have also called for increased financial support and protected training time to enable workers to acquire deeper skillsets throughout their careers, or equip themselves to pivot to new areas. Going forward, this is an area that will need support from all tripartite partners to ensure our workers’ skillsets remain relevant and our businesses have adequate workers to sustain our future economy.
Finally, I will continue to call on all employers to work with NTUC to form Company
Training Committees, CTCs in short. With the acceleration of digital and green economy, it is imperative for companies to plan ahead, capitalise key trends, and transform their businesses. Through CTCs, NTUC will support companies to do all that, plus redesign jobs, upskill and reskill workers and collectively achieve greater business and workers’ outcomes. CTC is a win-win initiative for employers and workers, supported firmly by the Government through the CTC grant.
Mr Speaker Sir, in Mandarin please.
议长先生，为更好的了解工友的心声和愿望、更好的服务工友，新加坡职工总会在去年8月，启动了为期一年的“同心同行 共创未来”对话会，我们希望通过更积极的聆听和沟通，同心协力和工友一同开创更美好的未来。
职总未来的工作，主要有三个重点：首先，帮助工友把握未来经济的机遇、第二、保障工友的权益，以及第三，加强工友的韧性和应对能力。
首先，职总将协助工友把握未来经济的机遇、
正所谓“行行出状元”，我们计划通过渐进式职业发展模式，鼓励更多国人加入熟练技工的行（hang2）列，掌握一技之长，同时确保 我国的 基础 技术行业 例如 电子维修、水管水喉维修、空调维修行业 等等 可以持续发展。
此外，我们也必须确保年轻人和年轻工友，无论我国 经济情况 如何，都能够找到合适的工作，有机会发挥所长，为我国经济做出贡献。
第二、职总将继续 致力于 保障 工友的权益。
我们希望在短期内 支持我们的工友 应对更高的 生活成本，以及中长期的 紧迫问题，这包括更好的工作、失业保险、退休保障 和护理支持。
随着 全球经济 和科技发展 的日新月异，40岁到50多岁的工友，面对更多被淘汰和失业的风险。政府在 冠病疫情 期间，就推出了许多计划帮助工友保住了工作.接下来，职总和政府将探讨 扩大一些计划，以协助更多国人。
另外，随着平台工友的增加，以及 零工经济 的发展，职总目前正通过“平台工友咨询委员会”，与三方合作伙伴 协力加强退休保障、住房保障和工伤保险，以便 更好地帮助 自雇人士 和自由业者。
第三，加强工友的 韧性和应对能力。
我们必须 鼓励工友 持续提升技能，加强在新环境中的竞争力和应对能力。为做到这点，职总从2019年起，便鼓励各个企业和公司 成立培训委员会 以帮助公司 升级和转型、以及让雇员 参加培训，进行技能转型和提升。
我们希望有更多的企业，加入这项计划，确保员工都具备未来技能、加强我国工友的能力和企业的竞争力
总的来说，我们的目标很简单 ：确保工友们都有一份值得骄傲的工作；保障工友们的生计；以及为全国工友们打造一个拥有优质工作和生活 的光明未来。
CONCLUSION
In Singapore, generations of Government and NTUC have worked hard to uphold personal integrity and trust in every aspect. And the dividends can clearly be seen in the way we’ve navigated through the pandemic. However, we must be vigilant to always nurture the trust because we are not immune to what is happening around the world.
As a Labour Movement, we will continue to advocate workers’ interests, through improving wages, welfare and work prospects. As shared by Mr Lee Kuan Yew at NTUC’s 50th Anniversary dinner, “In government, I have never forgotten that it is in the interest of the workers and their unions that we must strive for growth and development. In other words, growth is meaningless unless it is shared by the workers, shared not only directly in wage increases but indirectly in better homes, better schools, better hospitals, better playing fields and, generally, a healthier environment for families to bring up their children.” The President’s address last week sets out the government’s plans to achieve just that.
In the Labour Movement, our commitment is to always put workers first, ensure that workers will have better job opportunities, assurances and protection and the resilience to adapt, upskill and retrain themselves to remain relevant for the future.
Sir, I support the motion. Thank you.
