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Mr John De Payva at the annual dinner of the Singapore Manual and Mercantile Workers Union last week. Mr De Payva retires today as the longest-serving NTUC president, a post he has held for 15 years. ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG
Mr De Payvas journey to the top ranks of the labour movement began in 1973. As a 26-year-old accounts clerk at United Engineers, he joined the house union, becoming its branch secretary in 1975 after the union was taken over by the Singapore Manual and Mercantile Workers Union (SMMWU). Four years later, in 1979, he resigned from United Engineers to become an industrial relations officer at SMMWU. His manager offered to retrench him so he could get a payout, as the company was then going through restructuring. He had worked for nine years and would have received a tidy sum, but he said no. I am going into SMMWU to represent workers... My conscience wouldnt allow me to take the money, he explained. He rose rapidly through the ranks to become SMMWU deputy secretary-general in 1985 and secretary-general in 1988, a post which he still holds. Under his watch, the union grew from 12,000 members in 1988 to 83,000 today. It is now the largest union here. He first became active in NTUC in 1982, when he was made the secretary for organising, the equivalent of todays director of membership. He was to be thrown into the thick of action as Singapore headed into a recession in 1985. He remembers meeting then Deputy Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong to discuss a 15 per cent cut in employers Central
TARGETED APPROACH
For sectors where the Singaporean core is ageing, we have to refresh it as in the case of shipbuilding. For sectors where the Singaporean core is shrinking in proportion to the industry, we have to grow it as in the case of construction and IT.
NTUC secretary-general Lim Swee Say
such as the wafer fabrication industry, make it stronger, he urged. A stronger Singaporean presence in various sectors will root global compa-
nies here and make Singaporeans more proud and take greater ownership of the growth and success of the Singapore economy, he said. But more importantly, it will also enhance the mutual respect and mutual acceptance between local and global manpower here. Mr Lim did not give details of steps that the labour movement will take to help strengthen the Singapore core. But interviews with unionists and industry players indicate that the root of the problem differs depending on the industry, thus requiring different remedial actions. In the shipbuilding industry, for instance, there is no shortage of Singaporeans in management jobs, said Mr Wong Weng Ong, president of the Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Employees Union. But the immediate supervisors of shipyard workers are in their late 50s and 60s and due to retire soon. To attract younger Singaporeans to these positions, we are working on improving their pay and work conditions. For the construction and IT industries,
the paucity of Singaporean workers is felt in the higher-level jobs. Expand Constructions chairman Von Lee said the industry has been losing many local engineers and managers over the years to other sectors like finance, which appear more glamorous. The bottom line: We need to train more engineers in schools, he said. Agreeing, IT firm Datacrafts sales director and MP Zaqy Mohamad said the IT industry talent pool lacks Singaporeans in their 20s and 30s because they are more attracted to jobs in business and finance. The trend of global companies outsourcing jobs to cheaper countries has also resulted in a smaller proportion of locals in the industry. But local workers can be groomed to take on higher-value and eventually management roles, he said. In his speech on Tuesday, Mr Lim also reiterated other priorities for NTUC, in his 2015 vision for the movement. It needs to strive for better employment terms for all, including low-wage, contract workers, older workers as well as those in white-collar jobs. Mr Lim also called for the NTUC to reach out to all government ministries and agencies, and more employers and sectors, in a more pervasive tripartism. The NTUC will also raise its membership to one million and ensure a representative mix of blue-collar, white-collar workers of all ages and nationalities. Together we can upgrade and transform, build our core and sink roots here in Singapore, said Mr Lim. haoxiang@sph.com.sg
Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean delivering Singapores statement at the UN climate change conference in Durban, South Africa, yesterday.
PHOTO: MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER RESOURCES
Two, there should be transparency, meaning countries must be able to measure, report and verify that they made the emissions cuts they pledged. And three, there should be universal participation, meaning all countries must participate according to their respective abilities. What this means is that the developed countries have to show leadership in emissions reductions. But developing countries too, can and must make a contribution to the process, taking into account their national circumstances and constraints, he said. Some 90 countries have already pledged to reduce their carbon emissions, he said, but we need to encourage others to come forward and make their pledge. Singapore had pledged in 2009 at the Copenhagen conference to cut carbon emissions by between 7 and 11 per cent without a legally binding agreement and 16 per cent with one. DPM Teo outlined some of the actions that Singapore has already taken: switching from fuel oil to natural gas, which cuts carbon emissions, and implementing vehicle quotas and usage constraints like Electronic Road Pricing. It also has research programmes in clean technologies, such as solar energy, electric vehicles and a new centre set up with Shanghai Jiaotong University this week to study energy from waste and pollution monitoring. And as a member of the International Maritime Organisation and the International Civil Aviation Organisation, Mr Teo said, Singapore is also working towards multilateral measures to cut emissions in the international maritime and aviation sectors. Through these efforts, we hope to develop effective solutions that can address the challenges faced by Singapore, and also contribute to global efforts to mitigate climate change, he said. See reports, World Page A28