TLDR; NTUC comes together for the National Day Observance Ceremony (NDOC) after two years of virtual celebrations!
With National Day just around the corner (and not forgetting the long weekend), we gear up for a day full of celebration, patriotism and soul.
The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) kickstarted their celebrations today at its National Day Observance Ceremony (NDOC). The Labour Movement sang along to National Day Classics such as “Home”, “Where I Belong” and “Stand Up For Singapore” – sung by the nEbO youths.
Present at the NDOC was NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng who delivered his speech to the unionists who attended the event, thanking them for a job well done for persevering through COVID-19 as one united people, and for striving to defend and represent workers.
Striving to do right by workers and strengthening social compact
Last week, Labour Chief Ng Chee Meng also shared his National Day Message – NTUC after all represents more than 1 million workers in Singapore.
In his message, he shared that NTUC intends to;
Champion all workers to forge an inclusive and fulfilling future of work
As workers enter a post pandemic world riddled with uncertainty and challenges, NTUC has strived to ensure that the needs of workers from all types of work and walks of life are represented and heard (think the formation of the Youth Taskforce and the PME recommendations report!)
Some of the things that NTUC has already been looking at are:
- Ensuring that the growing pool of self-employed workers such as platform workers have better work conditions and access to medical coverage.
- Advocating for family-friendly practices such as flexible work arrangements, particularly for working mothers and women
- Expanding the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) to cover more lower-wage workers
- Championing the extension of retirement age and restoration of CPF rates for older workers who wish to stay longer in the workforce and pushing for upskilling of older workers so that they can keep up with the rapid changes in their industries
The double T – Training & Transformation
To enable workers to ride through the technological challenges, NTUC will continue to press on aligning workers’ training with the companies’ transformation strategy through the formation of Company Training Committees (CTC).
What does the future look like?
As we embrace a new 4G team and work with them to help them understand the aspirations of the next generation of Singaporeans, the NTUC has also pledged to work side by side them to continue evolving and refreshing their compact with workers.
As we emerge from the pandemic, workers too have renewed expectations and aspirations.
We’re excited to see what the future holds for the future generation of Singaporeans.
