The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), also known as the Singapore National Trades Union Congress (SNTUC) internationally, is the sole national trade union centre in Singapore. NTUC leads the labour movement of Singapore, comprising 59 affiliated trade unions, 5 affiliated trade associations, 6 social enterprises, 6 related organisations and other enterprise partners. The NTUC helms May Day celebrations and organises an annual rally in support of workers' solidarity and commitment to a tripartite partnership. Since its inception, the NTUC has had a close symbiotic relationship with the People's Action Party (PAP), the current ruling political party of the country.

History

The NTUC was first established in 1961 when the Singapore Trades Union Congress (STUC), which had backed the People's Action Party (PAP) in its successful drive for self-government back in 1959, split into the pro-PAP NTUC and the non-affiliated and more leftist Singapore Association of Trade Unions (SATU). The SATU collapsed in 1963, following the now PAP-led government's crackdown and detention of its leaders during Operation Coldstore and its subsequent official deregistration on 13 November 1963, leaving the NTUC as the sole trade union centre. Currently, an overwhelming majority of union members (over 98%) are in unions affiliated with the NTUC. After the PAP's decisive general election victory in 1968 where it won all seats in Parliament, the government passed the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act of 1968, which made a significant amendment to the legislated Industrial Relations Act of 1960 by severely limiting workers rights to engage in either direct collective bargaining with employers, industrial action or strike action. From 1969, the NTUC adopted, in its own words, "a cooperative, rather than a confrontational policy towards employers". The NTUC reached its target of 1 million members in 2021.

Relationship with the People's Action Party (PAP)

The PAP has governed Singapore since its general election victory in 1959. Since the NTUC's inception, relations between the PAP and NTUC are very close, and have often resulted in members concurrently holding office in both organisations. The NTUC's founder, Devan Nair, was a PAP stalwart and later served as President of Singapore. Ong Teng Cheong, the first elected President of Singapore, concurrently served as the secretary-general of NTUC and the country's deputy prime minister until his presidential election. Lim Boon Heng and Lim Swee Say, the previous secretaries-general, also became cabinet ministers. In 2015, Chan Chun Sing took over as Secretary-General from Lim Swee Say, who left the NTUC to become Minister for Manpower. In 2018, Ng Chee Meng took over as Secretary-General from Chan Chun Sing, who left NTUC to become Minister of Trade and Industry. Ng remained in this post even after he lost his parliamentary seat at the 2020 general election.

Reception

In 2024, the NTUC was designated as a "politically significant person" (PSP) under the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act 2021 (FICA) by the Ministry of Home Affairs (Singapore) (MHA) due to its "close nexus and symbiotic relationship" with the PAP. This close relationship has not come without criticism, with other political parties such as the Workers' Party (WP) viewing that the lack of a non-partisan and independent trade union centre in Singapore as being detrimental for the labour movement and workers rights in the country.

List of office holders

NTUC President

Prior to NTUC's formation in 1961, Mahmud Awang, President of the Singapore Trades Union Congress (SATU) disbanded SATU to form NTUC, helming it as the caretaker president, before Ho See Beng became NTUC's first president.

NTUC Secretary-General

NTUC Affiliated Unions and Associations

58 Trade Unions and 3 Trade Associations are affiliated to the National Trades Union Congress. The affiliated unions can be broadly categorised under Industrial Sector, Service Sector, Public Sector Unions and Omnibus Unions.

Industrial Sector Unions

Service Sector Unions

Public Sector Unions

Omnibus Unions

Associations

NTUC Social Enterprises

NTUC Enterprise is the holding entity and single largest shareholder of the NTUC social enterprises. The list of social enterprises includes:

Related organisations

The list of related organizations includes:

Sources