Speech at SMMWU Tripartite Initiatives Forum
Mr Gan Kim Yong, Acting Minister for Manpower, Meritus Mandarin, Mandarin Court
Mr John de Payva, President, National Trades Union Congress,
Mr Koh Juan Kiat, Executive Director, Singapore National Employers' Federation,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen
A very good morning to all of you.
Introduction
2. I am pleased to join you here at the SMMWU Tripartite Initiatives forum. Today, the SMMWU will be sharing its progressive practices in enhancing employment opportunities for the workers it represents. Being the largest union in Singapore, with 240 branch unions and some 82,000 members from industries such as airlines, departmental stores, trading houses, stock broking companies and logistics, the SMMWU is responsible for furthering the well-being of a sizeable number of workers across different jobs and in various industries. So, the impact of its work is significant.
World Trends and Impact on Local Workforce
3. We are facing several important challenges. First, our greying population and an ageing workforce: by 2015, 29% of our workforce would be aged 50 and above. Second, a globalised and more volatile economy is changing business needs, which have made outsourcing more prevalent. Third, the US sub-prime mortgage crisis, which is having a dampening effect on the world financial markets and the global economy.
Singapore's Strengths and the Role of Tripartism
4. Singapore remains in a strong position to address these challenges. We have strong fundamentals in place - a skilled, hardworking and resilient workforce; and a flexible and responsive labour market that meets the manpower needs of employers. These key factors have kept our workforce competitive.
5. We also have one "magic ingredient" that differentiates us from others – our strong tripartite relations, which has made Singapore a choice location for many employers. Tripartism has moved beyond maintaining industrial harmony to proactively shaping our employment landscape and tackling emerging labour market challenges. Our tripartite model was put to the test during the Asian financial crisis, the global economic recession following 9/11 and SARS. Through all these difficult circumstances, the unions, employers and Government worked together to save jobs, help companies stay competitive and re-train workers to help them remain employable.
Assisting the Silver, Gold and No Collar Workers
6. Tripartite initiatives have been the cornerstone of our efforts to encourage the employment and re-employment of older workers. An important part of our strategy is to implement re-employment legislation by 2012. To help companies and workers prepare for this, the tripartite partners recently released a Tripartite Advisory on the Re-employment of Older Workers. Unions have played a crucial role in working with employers to encourage the adoption of this Advisory. On this note, I am very encouraged by NTUC's announcement that 540 unionised companies have already started to re-employ older workers. Hopefully, even more will do so in the coming months.
7. As we gear up for re-employment, we must not lose sight of the broader goal to have more Singaporeans work longer. Re-employment on its own will be ineffective if workers leave the workforce early, before they reach 62 years old. Unions, too, have a crucial role to play here, in encouraging members to continually upgrade their skills, be adaptable to change, and work for as long as they can. This will not only help members save more for retirement, but also stay active.
8. The tripartite partners have also played a key role in addressing the challenges faced by low-wage contract workers. In March this year, the tripartite partners released a Tripartite Advisory on Responsible Outsourcing Practices. The Advisory outlines the good practices that end-user companies can adopt in outsourcing their business needs and functions. These include setting performance-based service contracts and ensuring that service providers comply with statutory employment standards.
9. To help service providers and end-user companies adopt these practices, the unions and employers have organised workshops to increase awareness and share the experiences of companies that have done so. MOM has also stepped up its efforts to ensure that employers of contract workers comply with labour laws and provide statutory employment terms and benefits.
10. At the same time, professionals, managers, executives and technicians, or PMETs, have also been given support to help them to better respond to the challenges of the global economic landscape. The Workforce Development Agency has worked closely with the industry and the tertiary institutes in developing the Professionals Conversion Programme, which was introduced in 2007. This Programme provides training for PMETS to upgrade their skills, thereby enhancing their employability and creating more employment opportunities. The unions and employers have shown strong support for this programme. On its part, the WDA has committed $20 million to support the training of 1,000 PMETs from 2007 to 2009.
SMMWU's Commendable Contributions
11. The SMMWU has played a key role in all the above efforts. The union has actively assisted its older workers in skills re-training and securing employment. I note that all its collective agreements up for renewal this year contain a clause for the re-employment of older workers. For contract workers, SMMWU has organised several bipartite workshops to engage HR practitioners in promoting best employment practices. It is also actively looking into ways to protect them under collective agreements and memorandums of understandings. The SMMWU is working with its 9,700 PMET members to provide services that meet their needs, in order to ensure that the union remains relevant for them.
12. Finally, I commend the SMMWU for organising this forum to share the various tripartite initiatives that they have introduced to benefit workers. I am confident that the strong tripartite partnership will allow us to usher in many more good years ahead.
13. I wish all of you a fruitful session this morning. Thank you.