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Gandhi
Ambalam
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Vantage
The long journey of our workers
Gandhi
Ambalam
22 Aug 07
I was in a bus the other day heading
towards the HDB Hub in Toa Payoh when the scrolling headlines on
its mobile TV caught my eye: "Manpower Minister to head a
tripartite delegation to ILO conference."
But what
puzzled me was the term "tripartite delegation" which
referred to the team of representatives of the government,
employers, and workers. It's easy to speak, in Singapore's
context, of representatives from employers and the government. We
all know who they are. But what about the workers?
In
Singapore such representation comes in the form of the National
Trades Union Congress (NTUC), the country's flagship trade union.
But what exactly is the NTUC and who does it really represent?
The NTUC rose from the ashes of genuine, independent
trade unions that were ruthlessly suppressed by the PAP soon
after the party came to power. Ironically, Mr Lee Kuan Yew became
prime minister on the backs of our workers and their unions in
1959.
Since its founding in 1961, the NTUC has been
elevated to the position of an umbrella body for trade unions.
PAP MPs are then appointed to head it, unabashedly calling
themselves labour chiefs and union leaders. It has been the
tradition for the NTUC secretary general to be a cabinet
minister, drawing more than $2 million salary while our workers
are denied even minimum wage.
In reality, however, the
NTUC only maintains less than 20 per cent of our workers as
members, leaving the majority unprotected. Its principal role is
not to increase its membership base but to regulate the
aspirations and expectations of our workers. In other words, keep
the workers under constant subjugation to ensure that they don't
become an organized group.
For workers to form their own
independent trade unions is an impossibility given the
all-controlling PAP. As with many organizations in Singapore, the
NTUC is put in place to represent the Government.
After
Singapore became independent, PAP leaders, on the advice of a
visiting Dutch economist, the late Dr Albert Winsemius, decided
to open the country to foreign capital and turn the island
republic into a base for export oriented industries with cheap
labour, generous tax holidays and other incentives.
In
order to attract these multinational corporations from the US,
Europe and Japan, the Government embarked on a concerted effort
to further stifle labour, bulldozing through legislation such as
the Employment Act, the Industrial Relations Act and the Trade
Unions Act in the 1960s.
These laws collectively became
the employers' charter, leaving the hiring and firing of workers
entirely in the hands of employers with unions having no say.
Strikes were outlawed. Numerous trade unionists were arrested
under the Internal Security Act. One such leader was the late Ho
Piao who recently passed away in London. Before he died Ho had
recounted his ordeal under the hands of his PAP captors. He was
savagely beaten by ISD officers and forced to submit to the PAP
authority.
That's amazing is that the PAP, despite the
changing economic landscape, still insists on maintaining these
archaic and draconian laws that provide blank cheques for the
flagrant exploitation of our workers.
The increasing
number of suicides, divorces, and homeless people is the result
of decades of exploitation of our workers – voiceless
workers. This is coupled with the record number of millionaires
in Singapore, many of whom are not Singaporeans.
Employers
have numerous organizations and business houses to put forward
their interests to the Government. Expatriates recently
complained about the sudden surge in rental prices. Within days,
the Government took measures to cool the property sector.
But
what about workers? How do they fight for their interests? After
years for servitude, the Government announced that their
employers' CPF contributions would be cut. Recently Mr Lim Boon
Heng, former NTUC chief, visited Japan and returned to tell
workers that he found out that the Japanese were only allowed to
withdraw their pension savings at 65. The implication?
Singaporeans should do the same.
Like clockwork, the
Government now wants the retirement age to be raised to 65. Then
it raises the GST. And for good measure, it tells workers that
they don't have enough CPF for retirement and wants to make it
compulsory for them to buy annuity to tide them threw their
remaining years on this island.
So what can workers' do? A
big fat nothing. The "symbiotic" relationship that the
NTUC has with the PAP Government makes sure of that.
As
the bus came to a halt at the Toa Payoh Interchange my trip ended
too. But my thoughts wandered back to our workers: When will the
journey of their subjugation come to a close?
Mr
Ambalam is Chairman of the Singapore Democrats. He is a former
journalist.
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