SINGAPORE – Singapore’s founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew started his political journey by representing the postal workers’ union in a postmen’s strike in 1952, around the time Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was born.
“And so, when my father visited my mother and me in KKH (KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital)... instead of admiring his new baby, he was telling my mother all about the postmen’s union and his plans,” PM Lee said.
PM Lee told this story on May 1 during his May Day Rally speech, as he recounted how unions played a key role in his life and in Singapore’s success.
“As a young boy, I met many union activists. They would visit our home... for meetings, especially during election campaigns,” he said. “I knew that my father was the legal adviser to many trade unions. I wasn’t quite sure what being a legal adviser meant, but I took great pride in this.”
He added: “In future, the unions will play an even more crucial role, as we deal with geopolitical and economic uncertainty.”
PM Lee noted that “it is not only during crises that tripartism proves its worth. Singapore’s dramatic progress would have been impossible without tripartism”, referring to the three-way relationship between employers, unions and the Government.
He added that the PAP has worked hard, creating prosperity and progress, and ensuring every Singaporean benefits from the fruits of growth.
“Through the symbiotic relationship with the PAP, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) has done right by workers, and helped them and their families to enjoy a better life,” he said.
PM Lee noted that the three-way partnership played a vital role throughout Singapore’s journey.
The cooperative relationship came about in 1969 during NTUC’s modernisation seminar. “(That) was when we replaced the old adversarial approach – unions versus employers – with a cooperative, tripartite strategy based on trust and confidence,” he said.
The partners formed the National Wages Council to establish a constructive process for tripartite annual wage negotiations, and assured workers of their fair share of economic growth.
PM Lee also observed how tripartism helped in times of crisis, such as the recession of 1985 when Singapore had to reduce business costs by cutting employer Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions.
“I remember this vividly, because I chaired the Economic Committee which made this recommendation,” he said, adding that he was grateful to have the full support of Mr Ong Teng Cheong, who was then the NTUC secretary-general, and union leaders.
“Together, we persuaded the workers that the CPF cut was unavoidable, and that it would help secure their jobs,” he said, noting that the economy revived within the year.
“No other country could have implemented such a draconian policy, gotten unions and workers to accept it, and made it work. But Singapore workers knew we had their backs.
“And we still do – we will always have your backs.”
This partnership continued to carry Singapore through other crises, such as the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997, the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, and most recently, the Covid-19 pandemic.
“But by now the tripartite partners knew what to do, and each time we pulled through, with our workers safe, and our partnership strengthened,” PM Lee said.
He added that the unions are also transforming to remain relevant, reaching beyond blue-collar workers to look after graduates, professionals, platform workers and the self-employed.
Company training committees have also been formed in hundreds of companies to plan and execute training and upgrading programmes together with employers.
The National Trades Union Congress is also reaching out to young workers even while they are still in post-secondary institutions, through organisations like Young NTUC.
“You pushed for stronger support for families and caregiving, and greater gender equality... you elected three female NTUC presidents, and nurtured the first female president of Singapore,” PM Lee said.
He added that before each May Day Rally, he also met union leaders to hear their concerns. This year, the topics were getting workers to understand the fierce competition from other countries and what must be done to stay in the game.
The conversations also included how older workers worry about keeping up with technological progress, while younger ones want work-life balance, as well as the future of the tripartite partnership and how it must carry on with the next generation of leaders.
“Today, in the 70th year of the PAP’s founding, and after 20 years as your PM, I can tell you, in all good conscience, that both the NTUC and the PAP have delivered on our promises to Singaporeans,” he said.
