Labour movement of Singapore

The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) spearheads the labour movement of Singapore, which represents almost a million workers in the country across more than 70 unions, affiliated associations and related organisations. Singapore runs on a tripartism model which aims to offers competitive advantages for the country by promoting economic competitiveness, harmonious government-labour-management relations and the overall progress of the nation.^[1]

NTUC, along with its tripartite partners, the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) and Ministry of Manpower (MOM), work together to tackle issues such as job re-creation, raising the effective retirement age, skills training and upgrading of the workforce, promotion of fair and progressive employment practices, and a flexible wage system, among other labour-related issues.

The modernisation of the labour movement in the late 1960s has nurtured cooperation-based rather than confrontational labour relations between employees and employers. Today, rather than engaging in traditional adversarial unionism, union leaders in Singapore also sit on major statutory boards and are actively involved in state policymaking, allowing them to use negotiation, conciliation and arbitration, thus eradicating strikes and other industrial action as a form of settling labour disputes.

Major strikes are a rare occurrence in Singapore; only two major strikes were observed in recent decades, once by shipyard workers in 1986 that was sanctioned by then NTUC secretary-general Ong Teng Cheong, and the November 2012 wildcat strike by SMRT Corporation's bus drivers.