DPM (Deputy Prime Minister) Brother Gan Kim Yong,
Cabinet Ministers,
NTUC President Thana, fellow Central Committee Members,
SNEF (Singapore National Employers Federation) President Brother Tan Hee Teck,
PAP comrades,
Sisters and Brothers,
INTRODUCTION
Good morning, and a very warm welcome to our Ordinary Delegates’ Conference (ODC) 2025!
Time really flies! It was just two years ago that, collectively, we reaffirmed our purpose:
a. to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with every worker in Singapore, and
b. to build a Labour Movement that is relevant, responsive and resilient in a changing world of work.
Two years later, we are here to celebrate our achievements and plan for what lies ahead.
[Screen plays video on NTUC Sec-Gen Report.]
CELEBRATING KEY ACHIEVEMENTS SINCE NTUC NDC (NATIONAL DELEGATES’ CONFERENCE) 2023
As you saw in the video, we’ve made real progress. Not just in ideas but bringing ideas to fruition.
I would like to sincerely thank each and every one of you for your hard work in making all this possible! A special shout-out to my leaders, staff, employer partners who have stood should-to-shoulder with us, our Government brothers and sisters who have supported us – thank you very much!
Let me elaborate on the progress we have made together, and where we can do better.
First, we have paved the way for better Wages, Welfare and Work Prospects for many workers, including professionals, managers, executives (PMEs).
In 2023, we set an ambitious goal – to have 2,500 CTCs (Company Training Committees) by 2025.
We’ve already far surpassed 2,500 where we now have nearly 3,700 CTCs proliferated across all industries! Well done, Sisters and Brothers!
But let us remember, humbly, that the numbers do not matter but (what matters more is) the ability to bring capabilities to the ground, and how CTCs are helping you to transform businesses, and most critically, uplift workers, including our PMEs.
Just last week, I was at the AMEU (Advanced Manufacturing Employees Union) Dinner on a Friday. I met this lady who came up to me, requesting for a photo. She looked familiar but I could not quite place where i had met her. During our short conversation, I remember that she was the Managing Director of Certact Engineering I met 5 years ago, Sister Ellis Eng.
Certact Engineering was struggling in 2019 to 2020 as a metal production firm. When COVID hit, we extended our CTC expertise to Sister Ellis and Certact Engineering, (and) it took off. Certact Engineering transformed from metal machining to high-value plastics, deploying robotics and automation. Most critically, we powered with the company to train their staff – uplift and upskill them – in their transformation journey. Ellis was entrepreneurial. She told me that CTC helped to uplift her company and about two-thirds of their workforce were able to get wage increases ranging from around 12 per cent, to up to 45 per cent in the first phase of transformation. As she embarked on this partnership since 2021, she digitalised operations, improved productivity, and enabled her workers to keep growing with the company. At the dinner, she told me proudly that her company has doubled in size – from 60 employees to reaching 130 employees; from a metal industry firm to high-end plastics. She also told me she is thinking about expanding her company overseas too.
This is your efforts, Brothers and Sisters – uplifting wages for workers, better employment for workers, and making a real difference; better business, better wages and employers taking care of our workers!
I look forward to more partnerships, knowing that what we do matter. And your work truly matters!
As of today, over 10,000 workers – including PMEs – have benefited from the CTC grants, benefitting from an average wage increase of five per cent, on top of annual increments. They have better career development planning and skills allowances.
With the additional $200 million that Prime Minister Wong gave us – can we do more? Can we scale our effort with the CTC and make a bigger impact? I say, yes, let us try – beyond individual companies, to all sectors.
In NTUC, we are innovating beyond the CTC concept to a Cluster CTC model. We partnered with Queen Bee companies to scale and better reach the SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) so that we can impact more workers in the hard-to-reach sectors.
We have made some good progress – the Queen Bee and Cluster CTC partnerships, started with:
a. ST Engineering Land Systems in precision engineering,
b. YCH Group and ST Logistics in logistics,
c. PSA in the maritime industry,
d. our very own FairPrice Group in wholesale trade and retail, and
e. we recently signed a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with SMRT in the public transport sector.
So, there are six Queen Bees! Together, these allow us to impact 45,000 workers in these industries across 600 SMEs.
I hope in two years’ time I will be able to list out even more companies, Queen Bee companies, that can impact not just our workers but for the companies to push the envelope of AI (Artificial Intelligence), efficiency and possibilities. I earnestly call for more active partnership that can provide Queen Bee possibilities in our ecosystem. I know the Government is onboard. They like the idea of the CTC, and we count on the Government to continue funding this project, so long as we can deliver the outcome.
Let us Dream, Dare, and Do further. Is this really doable? I say YES!
Because in 2019, we started off with zero CTC. It started with a concept idea and dream. We dared to establish the first CTC with HSEU (Healthcare Services Employees Union) and Tan Tock Seng Hospital to set up a health academy. We must combine our individual strengths, as leaders, as union, as NTUC, so that we can “hunt as a pack” in Clusters. Using our “Heads, Hearts and Hands” to turn the different possibilities into a reality! Let us power through with our commitment and dedication, towards achieving what we set out to do. We can turn this into a reality with our collective efforts.
The second area of progress is in our commitment to represent more of today’s and tomorrow’s workforce especially our:
a. platform workers
b. PMEs, and
c. Youths
This is what DPM Gan has said in his speech. It is an area that we need to grow, and we will and must do better.
Today, nearly 70,000 Singapore workers do platform work to support themselves and their families. For years, they did not have basic protections.
Together with our tripartite partners, we made history. We passed a landmark law to give CPF (central provident fund), work injury compensation, and rights to union representation for our platform workers just recently. I must congratulate the Labour Movement and our Government that we are amongst the first in the world to do so! So, thank you for the good work!
Since then, the NTA (National Taxi Association), NPHVA (National Private Hire Vehicles Association) and NDCA (National Delivery Champions Association) have acted swiftly to secure recognition from major platform operators and set up industry best practices and principles for fair earnings and safe incentive schemes. At the same time, they (the associations) have worked with tripartite partners to clamp down on illegal and unfair practices that hurt our workers’ rice bowls.
As I stand here to celebrate, this journey took nearly 10 years. Today, we can finally say: we have Dreamed, Dared, Done and Delivered!
With your support, we will make history again. At this ODC, by amending our Constitution to welcome our Platform Work Associations into NTUC as full affiliates. I hope to secure your votes later on!
For our PMEs and youth, the headwinds remain strong. But we’ve built stronger pipelines to engage them to gain mindshare.
In the PME space, because it is not the traditional strength of the Labour Movement, we have met headwinds. We are innovating this space. In the last couple of years, we have launched the Mentors Network. Today, through the hard work of NTUC PME, we have 1,500 mentors – all volunteers, professionals and industry experts. Through the Mentors Network, we have built mentor-mentee relationships, with close to 1,000 PMEs who have benefitted from career guidance.
The feedback I’ve received is that they like it, and they think that the mentorship programme works.
It’s clear that PMEs want this and value career mentorship. That’s why from early next year, we will, through NTUC LHUB scale up mentorship programmes at the individual level. PMEs can look forward to these programmes, and I hope many of you are encouraged to access these.
Besides the individual level, we are also piloting at the company level – the Company Mentorship Circles. And we are piloting this, partnering with Murata Electronics Singapore, SingHealth Community Hospital and ST Engineering so that they can grow the leadership pipeline.
From the individual level to the company level, where, hopefully, through our innovative projects, push the envelope to enable PMEs in the workplace. At the same time, we will grow our 1,500 or so mentors by providing them with training, certification and mentorship to sharpen their skills as mentors.
To our employer partners here, if you are interested in the Company Mentorship Circles, do approach some of us in red (top) and we will point you to the necessary agency in NTUC to work with you, to grow the PME space, for the company to access and grow leadership in your company as well.
In the Youth space, the NTUC Youth team has worked hard to innovate and build mindshare in our youth. We know this is a very difficult task, and we have seen success in three areas.
One, through organising the NDP (National Day Parade) Bay Celebrations over the last two years, we have expanded our outreach to over 20,000 youth and in that colossal effort, we have been able to onboard 500 youth activists. The number might not be very big, but this is an important green shootto sow the seeds of growth for future youth leaders, to recruit and expand the space that we want to occupy for our young workers coming into the workforce.
Second, we have innovated through our NTUC Starter Awards – a scholarship programme targeted at providing leadership development opportunities for our youth. When they first started two years ago, we had about 180 applicants. This year, it has gone up by almost three times to 500 applicants. Again, it’s not a huge number. But it’s certainly a growth area and we hope to entrench and provide enablers for our youths. So (we hope) that they can reduce anxiety and have NTUC alongside them as they transit into the workplace. We have an ambition to go beyond 500; I’d say, perhaps 5,000. Some of you (may) say it’s too low. (So) Maybe, perhaps 10,000 a year, so that we can occupy at least one-third of the graduating class each year (as) we have 30,000 each cohort. Let us have that ambition – let us dream again, let us dare, and let us do. Let’s see in five or ten years, whether we can deliver this outcome. Let’s take up that challenge.
Lastly, we are also adding value to the youth through career readiness programmes, partnering with the Starter Awards programme, like the NTUC Youth Excel. It’s a two-day practical workshop organised by NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) and NTUC Youth where youth come in to learn tips about critical job search, leadership and workplace practical skills. We get partners to come boost their confidence and (be equipped with) skills to seek out their first jobs; and hopefully build networks as well. (And to) grow, as they transit to the workplace. We have started a pilot – and next year, we will be expanding to outreach to around 300 youth. Small steps, but important, innovative steps to put dreams, hopefully in a few years, to reality.
Over the years that I’ve been your Sec-Gen, we know that the PME and Youth spaces remain challenging. But if we are able to redouble our efforts, I’m confident we can make a breakthrough.
In this ODC, let us put our minds together, leverage all our W.I.N (Whole-of-Integrated NTUC) capabilities, to forge new possibilities in the PME and Youth spaces. This will be a strategic endeavour to ensure that NTUC and our Labour Movement remain relevant, responsive and resilient to new needs in our workforce.
This brings me to the third area. In the last two years, we have further strengthened our digital capabilities.
Our bold digital transformation efforts have helped us to serve members better: Do you remember “the good old days” when we had to sign up for membership? How long did it take for us to get a response? When we (had to) fill up the long and arduous form to reach Membership Service Department, which will take three days; and you were lucky if you could get a response in five days.
Today, because of your confidence and investment in digital transformation, membership activation is now almost instant. You go to an app, you go through a few steps, and you will get a response.
In the practical budget planning, know that your investment in these digital capabilities have helped us save one-third of business transaction cost to onboard new members. It’s significant!
Within two to three years, we have transformed our membership – in terms of cost, in terms of convenience; and importantly, it will give us a runway. With our digital platform now, we have clearer membership information, we can further automate and provide in-system guidance to serve members better, and to make work for our staff easier and more productive. These are great examples of what Brother Lim Swee Say would say “cheaper, better, fasterer”. So, well done again!
Thank you for the trust. When we first moved into this, I know some of you had reservations in putting significant amounts of money into digital transformation. Thank you for your trust and faith.
But I will tell you, as Sec Gen, we are not done yet. There is much more we can do – leverage our digital technologies, including AI, to do more! Find the right thing to do better; and in our whole organisation, derive efficiencies that make us much more resilient financially. But AI can also help us plan ahead, push ahead, and power ahead. Let’s make use of every advantage that NTUC can get, to push the envelope where we can succeedand be relevant for the next generation of workers.
Summing Up & Thank Yous
So, Brothers and Sisters, let me give you the headline numbers of what you have achieved. Well, we have reached more than 1.4 million members and are on track to hit 1.5 million by 2030.
And as I have always said, it’s not the numbers that I care about. It’s about uplifting the Wages, Welfare and Work Prospects of our workers.
a. We have established 3,700 CTCs, uplifted at least 10,000 workers and with a potential impact of reaching, through the Cluster Queen Bees, 45,000 more workers;
b. We have placed 52,000 workers in jobs through e2i;
c. We have moved to uplift 155,000 lower wage workers through PWM (Progressive Wage Model); and
d. Provided protection to 70,000 platform workers.
This is a moment for all of us to feel proud and enjoy the moment. Because your Sec-Gen will drive you further to achieve more. Let’s keep that fire in our bellies burning, because Every Worker Matters!
Well done, Sisters and Brothers!
WHY WE MUST DO BETTER THE NEXT LAP
The next lap will bring new challenges. Global economic and trade uncertainty is the new normal. Emerging AI and technology are reshaping work faster than ever. AI is creeping into the workplace faster than ever, often in ways that we have not yet been able to imagine.
So, what do all these mean for us?
a. Businesses will or are already more cautious. Hiring is slowing down.
b. Workers – from fresh graduates to mid-career PMEs to platform workers – are anxious about their job security.
In these times, we must ensure that our Labour Movement remains strong and relevant – ready to support our workers, including PMEs, to seize the opportunities and face the challenges of this time.
It is not through moral persuasion to help them (workers), but through efforts that matter on the ground. When we partner the employers and the Government, not only to show our current capabilities but to launch our vision of what will come – this is the strength of our Labour Movement, and this is the strength of NTUC. This is what DPM Gan has said, our secret weapon, of tripartism in Singapore. Let us do that collectively in this ODC.
And I hope that besides what we will be discussing, you will also know what I have been reflecting on over the past six months:
a. How to get NTUC to build an AI-Ready Singapore? What is our role, where we can embrace technology, empower businesses, and more importantly, get our workers, our PMEs, to be on board?
b. How can we, as a Labour Movement, embrace AI, find the possibilities of job redesign, upgrade our workers and upskill our workers to grow the biggest pie possible so that our working people, including PMEs, can benefit?
c. How can we, as NTUC, be AI-Ready? We have taken some steps in digital transformation but there is more that we can do. How can we use AI-enabled tools to be more efficient and more productive; and where there are more developments in AI, help us plan better and press ahead.
d. And most critically, how do we stay people-centered in the new environment, regardless of what we are doing? With the great ideas we have, NTUC will always be anchored on our basic value of people’s centricity; and in time to come, People-Powered to make all this happen.
e. The culture that we put in place will be important. How can we take what we have built over the last seven, eight years; and move it into our Labour Movement DNA? To make it the operating culture that will guide us in these challenging times?
These are questions (I posed) to myself. This ODC, I hope that we will be able to put our collective brain power together, design and develop possibilities for the next bound ahead.
CONCLUSION
So, Sisters and Brothers, as we come together over these two days, let’s align our focus, let us move forward and sharpen our purpose as one NTUC – be clear in our mission and confident in our ability to achieve.
Let us put together our “Heads, Hearts and Hands”, to make all the things we do a “Habit” – to achieve the greater good, to achieve better lives and livelihoods for our workers.
Let us plan ahead in a very challenging world, let us push ahead with our ideas, and let us power through with our commitment and dedication to do all the things we set out to do. Fundamentally, because Every Worker Matters to all of us in Singapore.
Thank you very much.
