Came across this old article .... just want to share and have it in my blog ... don't who is the original writer ...
Industrial relations in Singapore reflected the symbiotic relationship
between the labor movement and the dominant political party, the People's
Action Party (PAP), a relationship rooted in a political history of
confrontation that evolved into consensus building. Trade unions were a
principal instrument in the anticolonial struggle used by both the democratic
socialist PAP and the communists with whom they cooperated uneasily. In 1961
the Singapore Trade Union Congress split into the left-wing Singapore
Association of Trade Unions (SATU) and the noncommunist National Trades Union
Congress (NTUC). The NTUC quickly became the leading trade union organization,
largely because of its effectiveness and government support. Moreover, in 1963,
when SATU led a general strike against the government, the pro-communist trade
organization was banned and many of its leaders were arrested.
Strong personal ties between leaders of the PAP and the NTUC formed the
background of the symbiotic relationship, which was institutionalized by formal
links. In 1980 NTUC Secretary General Ong Teng Cheong was made a minister-without-portfolio,
and a NTUCPAP Liaison Committee comprising top leaders of both organizations
was established. As the "second generation" political leaders assumed
more government leadership following the 1984 election, Ong was named second
deputy prime minister. Following the September 1988 general elections, the NTUC
reaffirmed its close relationship with the PAP by expelling officers of
NTUC-affiliated unions who had run for Parliament on opposition tickets. The
NTUC and the PAP shared the same ideology, according to NTUC officials, so that
active support of the opposition was inconsistent with membership in
NTUC-related institutions. Workers who did not support the PAP were advised to
form their own unions.
The legal-institutional framework also exerted control over labor
conditions. In mid-1968, in an attempt to woo private foreign investment, Prime
Minister Lee Kuan Yew successfully pushed through Parliament a new employment
bill and amendments to the 1960 Industrial Relations Act. In order to make
factors such as working hours, conditions of service, and fringe benefits
predictable, and thus make businesses sufficiently attractive for investors,
trade unions were barred from negotiating such matters as promotion, transfer,
employment, dismissal, retrenchment, and reinstatement, issues that accounted
for most earlier labor disputes. To spread work and help alleviate the effects
of unemployment, overtime was limited and the compulsory retirement age was set
at fifty-five. Lee's actions, which the militant unions opposed but could do
little about, were part of the government's efforts to create in Singapore the
conditions and laissez-faire atmosphere that had enabled Hong Kong to prosper.
Such measures, in the government's view, were necessary to draw business to the
port. Lee stressed survival, saying: "No one owes Singapore a
living."
Rapid economic growth in the late 1960s and early 1970s reduced
unemployment and resulted in the amendment of these laws. A National Wages
Council was formed in 1972 and many of its recommendations adopted (see Wage
Policies , this ch.). By 1984 a twelve-hour shift was permitted. In order to
enlarge the limited labor pool, in 1988 changes were introduced in Central
Provident Fund policies reducing payment rates for those over fifty-five,
thereby encouraging employers to raise the retirement age to sixty. The
discipline imposed on, and expected of, the labor force was accompanied by
provisions for workers' welfare. The Industrial Arbitration Court existed to
settle disputes through conciliation and arbitration. The court, established in
1960, played a major role in settling labor-management disputes through binding
decisions based on formal hearings and through mediating voluntary agreements.
Adjudication of disputes between employers and nonunion workers came under the
separate jurisdiction of the Labour Court. To help job seekers, the government
maintained a free employment service serving both job seekers and employers. A
comprehensive code governed the safety and health of workers and provided a
system of workers' compensation. Under the Ministry of Labour, the Factory
Inspectorate enforced these provisions in factories, where more than 35 percent
of Singapore's workers were employed in 1988.
The trade unions' role and structure also had been modified. In the
1970s, the NTUC began establishing cooperatives in order to promote the welfare
of its members. In the 1980s, omnibus unions were split along industry lines
and further split into house unions to facilitate better labor-management
relations and promote company loyalty. In the 1982 Amendment to the Trade Union
Act, the role of trade unions was defined as promoting good industrial
relations between workers and employers; improving working conditions; and
improving productivity for the mutual benefit of workers, employers, and the
country.
