NTUC thisweek - News Break

News Break

OTC Institute
	Dialogue With NTUC Secretary-General Staying Alive In A Global Jungle You are caught in a wild jungle, with tigers on the loose. Your adrenalin is pumping and you think desperately: "What can I do?" Take the most practical step – take to your heels and run.

Singapore Parliament
	Giving Stagflation And Congestion A Wide Berth Bread-and-butter concerns dominated the Parliament sitting on 21 July 2008. Even as the Government voiced its concerns with a declining birth rate, workers had more immediate concerns. These were reflected by the questions asked by the MPs.

Women In The Workforce
	Paradigm Shift, No Cosmetic Measures Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew recently sparked a debate when he suggested that Singapore could look at how Sweden managed to improve its birth rate. Many welcomed the suggestion hoping that we too could introduce the very generous financial incentives that the Swedes enjoy.

Young NTUC
	YNTUC Dialogue With Lui Tuck Yew Take The Cue From Bosses In a cosy atmosphere, with some coffee and toast to make things friendlier, some Young NTUC activists gathered for a "kopitiam" discussion on 18 July 2008.
	Youth Leader Valli Samugam Life’s An Adventure Must an adventure be associated with a physically demanding climb up some Swiss mountain like the Matterhorn? To Valli Samugam, the Team Manager of the Young NTUC’s Adventure interest club (ADic), life’s an adventure so long as one makes that trip out of his "safe zone" and into the unknown.
	Youth Leader Henry Tay Seng Poh A Refreshing Opportunity When a young man works in a company that believes it exists to refresh everyone it touches, one can only imagine that man to be full of zest.

UnionWorks
	SGSWA: Infusing New Blood Into An Old Skill Shorthand writing is a dying trade. In the age of computers and keyboards, there is little demand for this old-fashioned skill. Employers are becoming more tech-savvy themselves and have little need for shorthand writers.
	CIEU: Transition To Better Paying Jobs Retrenchment is a word dreaded by workers but a reality in this fast paced, ever-changing, competitive global economy. While the chemical industry has performed well generally over the last couple of years, there are some sectors that are facing the constant pressure of increasing operational costs and competitive business challenges. The plastics sector is one such example. Retrenchment has taken place at some of the companies in the sector over the last two years, with some even contemplating complete closure of operations here and moving overseas.
	FDAWU: Going The Extra Mile For Its Members Employees in the hospitality industry put in the extra effort to please customers and the Food, Drinks and Allied Workers’ Union is doing likewise for its members, working with its management partners to improve their lives.

HSEU: Brighter Times Ahead For Mature Health Workers
With a booming medical industry and Singapore positioning herself as a medical hub for the future, there are numerous challenges that await HSEU. One of the most pressing issues for HSEU would be ensuring the continued re-employment of its Silver Collar workers.

SSEU-Shell TDC
	SSEU 8th Triennial Delegates Conference Spirit Of SSEU Soldiers On Amid the speeches and applause at the Singapore Shell Employees’ Union’s 8th Triennial Delegates’ Conference last week, there was a minute of silence.

Human National Flag
	NTUC Powers Up For The Nation Preparations to form Singapore’s This National Day’s Human Flag Event organised by Young NTUC will defi nitely be the biggest show by the Labour Movement. It is a record-breaking feat – with a 12,288- man formation team.
	Momentoes For A Momentous Feat Preparations to form Singapore’s Largest Human Flag are hotting up – not just by theformation team but the ground crew that’s taking care of their well-being.
	From Big To Bigger, Better To ‘Betterer’ When Benjamin Tang was appointed Chairperson of Young NTUC in February 2008, he was confident that he would be able to do a good job. This is because he would be receiving the reins from Edwin Lye, who has gone on to become a member of the NTUC Central Committee, the highest decision-making body of the Singapore Labour Movement.

NTUC FairPrice
	$1.5m To Lighten Higher Cost Of Living NTUC FairPrice Foundation, a registered charity fully funded by NTUC Fairprice Co-operative Limited, has given out $1.5 million worth of NTUC FairPrice vouchers to help needy families affected by the higher cost of living.

NTUC Club

Quest For Skills Upgrading
The NTUC Club’s subsidiary, Leisurequest Private Limited was presented with the Tourism Workforce Skills Qualifi cations New Approved Training Organisation Award at the Association of Singapore Attractions Annual Dinner on 3 July 2008. It has developed two modules approved under WSQ for its theme park operations namely, Operate Amusement Rides and Provide Safety and Security to Guests.

SISEU QDC

Can Do, We Can Do, All Can Do
The occasion may have been the Singapore Industrial & Services Employees’ Union Quadrennial Delegates’ Conference Dinner held on 9 July 2008 at the Orchid Country Club. Even so, Guest-of-Honour and Chairman of the SISEU Council of Advisors, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam wasn’t there just to laud SISEU’s track record and hand out the plaudits to the newly-elected SISEU Executive Committee for the term of office 2008-2012.

BATU TDC
	BATU Goes Member-Centric In Full Steam As the construction industry picks up pace with the two Integrated Resorts and the new downtown added to the Singapore’s cityscape, the Building Construction and Timber Industries Employees’ Union braces itself to tackle the challenges posed by the influx of workers and concomitant growth of membership.

Tributes
	Dr Ong Chit Chung Dies Labour Movement Loses Exemplary Advisor The Labour Movement is shocked and saddened by the unexpected demise of Dr Ong Chit Chung on 14 July 2008.

U Family

Pak Tor With U @ The Movies
Loving U Is Easy ‘Cos You’re Beautiful
Old couples... Young couples... And those in between. NTUC’s Family Development Unit organised “Pak Tor With U @ The Movies” and 449 couples showed up for this U Family event at Fort Canning Park on 12 July 2008 to watch Fool’s Gold. This was the largest gathering of married couples in Singapore ever. The Labour Movement advocates that a happy marriage is the foundation for a happy family life, and a happy family life can lead to better worklife balance and higher productivity for workers.

Branch Officials Recognition Awards

Labour Movement Salutes Its Unsung Heroes
They are the mouthpieces of the Labour Movement, delivering information to their fellow branch members, keeping them up-to-date on matters which affect them. They are always available to lend a listening ear and help their union members resolve workplace issues. They are the representatives of their branch, providing feedback to the management and the Labour Movement on ground sentiments. They do all these work over and above their regular jobs.

Customer Relationship Excellence Awards
	Service Superstars Do Us Proud For the first time, Singapore sent Excellence Service Award Superstars to participate in the Customer Relationship Excellence Awards – a regional service award organised by the Asia-Pacific Customer Service Consortium based in Hongkong. Five of the seven winners are NTUC Members, while one works in a unionised company.

NTUC Charity Golf

Doing More Good
NTUC Charity Golf 2008 raised $311,500 as some 150 golfers from the Labour Movement and tripartite partners took to the Marina Bay Golf Course for beneficiaries of NTUC Childcare Co-operative Limited and NTUC ElderCare Co-operative Limited on 7 July 2008. NTUC Childcare hopes to help 600 children through its Bright Horizons Trust and 302 children through its Read-to-REACH Literacy Programme. “As for NTUC ElderCare, the money raised will continue to be channelled into the ElderCare Trust which funds its programmes and services such as Day Care services, Care@home services for homebound elderly and wellness programmes to help seniors stay fit and healthy,” said NTUC Alignment Director (Care and Share) Zainudin Nordin.

Labour Movement Corporate Planning Seminar
	Giving LM2011 An Added Boost More than 60 senior leaders of the Labour Movement, spanning the NTUC Central Committee and Social Enterprises, came together from 26 to 28 June 2008 for a Corporate Planning Seminar to look back on what has been achieved and to chart out future directions.

NWC’s One-Time Lump Sum Payment
	Philips Workers Have Reasons To Smile As one of the pioneer investors in Singapore and having been around since 1951, Dutch electronics giant Philips Electronics Singapore Pte Ltd is surely a household name synonymous with quality products.

NXP Tries Hard To Help Staff
	Human Resources Director of NXP Semiconductors (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Chong Aye Wah, is very glad that they have a good relationship with the United Workers Of Electronic And Electrical Industries as it makes her job so much easier.

LM2011 1221 Dragonboat
	More Kicks In Store For nEbO Come this 7 July 2008, nEbO will celebrate its first anniversary. Within a short span, nEbO has certainly made a name for itself in the Labour Movement. From just a concept to a thriving club boasting of a 15,500 strong membership base even at its infancy stage, nEbO has proven its potential in engaging the youth community.