National Trades Union Congress

The NTUC was established in 1961 when the Singapore Trades Union Congress (STUC), which had backed the People's Action Party (PAP) in its successful drive for self-government, split into the pro-PAP NTUC and the leftist Singapore Association of Trade Unions (SATU). The SATU collapsed in 1963, following the government's detention of its leaders during Operation Coldstore and its subsequent official deregistration on 13 November 1963, leaving the NTUC as the sole trade union centre.[3] Currently, over 98% of union members are in unions affiliated with the NTUC.

After the PAP's decisive electoral victory in 1968, the government passed the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act of 1968, which severely limited workers rights to engage in either direct collective bargaining with employers, industrial action or strike action.[4] From 1969, the NTUC adopted, in its own words,[5] "a cooperative, rather than a confrontational policy towards employers".

Relations between the PAP and NTUC are very close, and have often resulted in members holding office in both organisations at the same time. The NTUC's late founder, Devan Nair, was a PAP stalwart and later served as President of Singapore. Ong Teng Cheong, the first directly elected President of Singapore, served as the secretary-general of NTUC, and the country's deputy prime minister, concurrently until his presidential election. Lim Boon Heng and Lim Swee Say, the previous secretaries-general, also became Cabinet ministers. As of 4 May 2015, Chan Chun Sing took over as Secretary-General from Lim Swee Say, who left the NTUC to become Minister for Manpower (with effect from the same date).[6] As of 22 May 2018, Ng Chee Meng took over as Secretary-General from Chan Chun Sing, who left NTUC to become Minister of Trade and Industry.[7]

It was announced by NTUC that from January 2021, a new insurance scheme would be introduced to cover migrant workers against critical illnesses, non-work related deaths, with the employers needing to pay premiums of $9 a year per worker.[8]

The NTUC reached its target of 1 million members in 2021.[9]

Trade unions in Singapore are run along democratic lines, and membership is voluntary. Major decisions on industrial actions are taken only with majority support expressed through secret ballot.

There are three tiers of union leadership, all elected via secret ballot. Workers in a company elect their branch leaders. The next layer is the executive committee of a union. Officials from the executive committee are drawn from the branches. At the national level, there is the Central Committee of the NTUC. The 21-member Central Committee is elected every four years.

Union leaders and employers serve on key institutions such as the National Wages Council, the Economic Development Board, the Central Provident Fund and the Singapore Productivity and Standards Board. Government and employer representatives also serve on the boards of the cooperatives, business ventures and other organisations controlled by the NTUC.

At the national level, once every four years, the union delegates elect a 21-member NTUC Central Committee to oversee the work of the labour movement. The Central Committee members will then elect: President, Secretary-General, Secretary for Financial Affairs (Treasurer) and vice-presidents among themselves. Thereafter, the Central Committee will appoint other principal officeholders.

Union leadership includes Members of Parliament (MPs) from the People's Action Party (PAP), as part of a symbiotic between the PAP and NTUC. MPs who are part of the NTUC are called "labour MPs", not to be confused with the Labour Party MPs in the United Kingdom.

These MPs are subject to elections, just as the other grassroots unionists are. Many other MPs, including Cabinet ministers, serve as union advisors.

At union headquarters level, key branch officials represent their branches at Union Headquarters as delegates. They have a right to vote or stand as candidates in elections to the Union Executive Committee which is responsible for the effective operation of the union.

Affiliated unions are represented at the NTUC Delegates Conference, the supreme authority of the labour movement. The Delegates Conference is held once in two years. During this conference, delegates review the work of the NTUC and map out future directions for the labour movement.

In April 2016, the total Union Membership figure in Singapore was 900,000. There are two main groups of members: Ordinary Branch (OB) members are directly represented by the unions/affiliates and enjoy direct collective bargaining rights, while General Branch (GB) members, who work in non-unionised companies, cannot be represented directly but are given workplace advice and whose employment issues are still handled professionally. NTUC also works with social enterprises (see below) to provide a range of core and lifestyle benefits for all of its members.

Since 2002, executives are also permitted to join the NTUC membership base, which was traditionally composed of rank-and-file employees. Apart from lifestyle benefits, they also enjoy some representation (if they are employed in unionised companies).

59 Trade Unions and 3 Trade Associations are affiliated to the National Trades Union Congress.[10] The affiliated unions can be broadly categorised under Industrial Sector, Service Sector, Public Sector Unions and Omnibus Unions.

The objectives of NTUC Social Enterprises are:

• to help stabilize prices of basic commodities and services
• to strengthen and protect the purchasing power of workers
• to allow union leaders to gain management experience, and to understand the problems faced by management, thus helping to promote better labour-management relations

NTUC Enterprise is the holding entity and single largest shareholder of the NTUC social enterprises.

The list of social enterprises includes:[11]

• Kopitiam (company)
• Mercatus Co-operative
• NTUC FairPrice
• NTUC First Campus
• NTUC Foodfare
• NTUC Health
• Income Insurance
• NTUC LearningHub
• NTUC Link

The list of related organizations includes:[10]

• Singapore Labour Foundation (SLF)
• Ong Teng Cheong Labour Leadership Institute (OTC Institute)
• e2i, Employment & Employability Institute
• Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE)
• Centre for Domestic Employees
• Migrant Workers' Centre

Additionally, the NTUC has an Administration and Research Unit (ARU) to carry out work related to and supporting Industrial Relations. Within the ARU, the Secretary-General functions as the Director-General. The Director-General is assisted by Divisional Directors, each of whom is in charge of a cluster of departments.

32 professional guilds in 22 sectors are partners of the National Trades Union Congress and are classified as U Associates. These U Associates have more than 200,000 members.

U SME, a department within NTUC ARU, has signed 42 Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs), covering 3,099 SMEs and 70,640 workers.

U SME conducts workshops to educate SME bosses on topics like the Employment Act, Employment of Foreign Manpower Act and Workplace Safety and Health Act.

Established in 2005, Young NTUC is the youth wing of Singapore's National Trades Union Congress.

With a base of about 150,000 young members, Young NTUC is, by far, the largest youth movement in Singapore, as compared to Young PAP and the People's Association's Youth Network. It enables younger members and unionists to participate and be actively involved in the various levels and activities of the labour movement, sharing ideas, views and concerns with their peers, as well as senior leaders of NTUC and affiliated unions.

The movement's signature events include RUN350, a green movement aimed at reducing the CO₂ levels in the atmosphere.

• Labour movement of Singapore

• ICTUR; et al., eds. (2005). Trade Unions of the World (6th ed.). London, UK: John Harper Publishing. ISBN 0-9543811-5-7.
• NTUC (4 September 2007). "NTUC Union Membership Core Benefits". NTUC.