SINGAPORE LABOUR FOUNDATION BILL

Order for Second Reading read. 3.26 p.m.

The Minister for Labour (Mr Ong Pang Boon): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

The Bill seeks to establish a body corporate to be called the Singapore Labour Foundation.

Mr Speaker, Sir, the trade union movement in Singapore has expanded from the traditional role of bargaining for improved terms and conditions of service and fringe benefits to cover a wide range of activities in the social, economic and educational fields. These include the operation of co-operatives in areas like supermarkets, books, life insurance, dental care and home furnishings. The establishment of the Singapore Labour Foundation will further the development of these activities of the trade union movement.

The object of the Foundation is the promotion of the welfare of members of trade unions and their families. The Foundation will also participate, aid and assist in social, economic or educational programmes and undertakings relating to the development of the trade union movement in the Republic. It will establish and maintain industrial rehabilitation centres as well as construct and run suitable premises for the use of trade unions and co-operative societies managed by the trade unions. The Foundation will also assist by way of grants, donations or otherwise any charitable, educational or other work, object or endeavour which will further the interest of the trade union or co-operative movement, not only in Singapore, but elsewhere.

On the educational front, the Foundation will provide bursaries, scholarships and fellowships to children of members of trade unions which are affiliates or associate affiliates of the National Trades Union Congress. These awards will also be given to workers from the Republic and elsewhere who study or undergo training in Singapore in fields relevant to trade unions. It will grant fellowships and awards in institutions of higher learning for research into matters relating to the trade union movement.

Mr Speaker, Sir, the salient features of the Foundation are already summarised in the Explanatory Statement to this Bill. Let me touch on some of the important provisions relating to the Foundation. Clause 5 of the Bill sets out the powers of the Board of Directors for the purpose of carrying out the objects of the Foundation. These include the acceptance of gifts, the obtaining of funds through contributions, subscriptions and fund raising, the borrowing of money and the investment of the Foundation's monies. The Board is also empowered to sell or purchase, take on lease or hire and lease out or mort age property.

Under clause 6 of the Bill, the Foundation is to consist of such number of members as the Board may from time to time admit to membership of the Foundation. Membership of the Foundation will be open to affiliate trade unions and co-operatives of the National Trades Union Congress. Individual donors, companies or associations who or which are benefactors of the Foundation will also be eligible for membership. The Board of Directors has the power to terminate the membership of any member for such reason as it deems just or proper. NTUC affiliates and associate affiliates will lose their membership in the Foundation if they cease to be affiliated to NTUC.

Clause 7 of the Bill provides that the affairs of the Foundation will be managed by a seven-man Board of Directors. The directors are to hold office for a term of three years and be eligible for re-appointment. Three of the directors will be appointed by the Minister on the advice of the National Trades Union Congress, two others will be appointed by the Minister and the remaining two will be elected at the Foundation's annual general meeting. The Chairman and Deputy Chairman are elected inter se. Provision exists for one of the directors to exercise general administrative control over the Foundation's activities.

Clause 12 of the Bill provides that the Foundation shall hold an annual general meeting once a year. Under clause 13, an extraordinary general meeting may be requisitioned by at least 100 members or one-quarter of the total membership, whichever is less. Such a meeting may also be called at any time that the Board of Directors deems necessary.

Sir, the income of the Foundation will be derived from entrance fees, annual subscriptions, contributions and donations. Under clause 19 of the Bill, the income and property of the Foundation shall be applied solely towards the promotion of the objects of the Foundation as set out in clause 4 of the Bill and no portion thereof shall be paid or transferred directly or indirectly by way of dividend, bonus, profit or otherwise to members or directors.

Finally, under clause 22, the Board is required, as soon as practicable after the close of the financial year, to submit to the Minister an annual report on the activities of the Foundation during that year and the Minister shall present that copy to Parliament.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question proposed. 3.35 p.m.

Mr Phey Yew Kok (Boon Teck): Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise most enthusiastically in support of the Bill to establish the Singapore Labour Foundation. It is without exaggeration to say that this Bill embodies a dream which the Labour movement in Singapore has nursed for nearly a decade.

In 1969, as Members of this House may recall, the trade union movement in Singapore led by the NTUC made a historic decision to modernise itself. The process of modernisation, however, was not viewed as an end in itself but as a means of achieving the objectives of the trade union movement.

It may be the impression of some employers that the objectives of the trade union movement are primarily to squeeze as much as possible out of the employers for the benefit of its members. If such impression is still harboured by these employers, it is erroneous. The action of the trade union movement speaks for itself. Co-operative enterprises, for instance, have been set up to benefit the members of trade unions without having recourse to the pockets of their employers, directly or indirectly.

Consequent upon the success of the process of modernisation begun in 1969, the trade union movement in Singapore has become financially more viable. The source of the modest increase in revenues of the trade union movement is the increase in subscription tom a growing membership strength, which now totals more than 200,000 or about 45 percent of the total bargainable and organisable workers in Singapore. Thus the NTUC and many of its affiliated unions have had for some years past sufficient funds to give effect to their objectives, among other things, of promoting educational and welfare projects for the benefit of union members and other workers and their dependants. But it is also realised that the absence of a central co-ordinating body to channel funds from diverse sources to specific projects is a stumbling block to the successful realisation of the aspirations of the trade union movement.

The establishment of a single corporate body, as that envisaged in the Singapore Labour Foundation, makes it that much more practicable to devise and implement a comprehensive and nation-wide programme of various development projects for the benefit of union members and other workers and their dependants. In the absence of such a Foundation, the various trade unions, even with the best of will, can only initiate and operate strictly limited projects for the benefit of their own members and their dependants. Such an approach, on the basis of the individual trade unions themselves, tends to be haphazard and cannot command sufficient resources that are required for comprehensive and meaningful development projects.

The trade union movement has repeatedly made representations to the Government for the setting up of a Foundation for such purpose. As a result of such representations, the trade union movement is glad that the Government has sponsored this Bill before the House. Among the various objectives of the proposed Singapore Labour Foundation, it is to be noted that educational projects and a scheme for industrial rehabilitation are among the principal objectives of the Foundation. In the Bill, it is clearly stated that not only the trade union members are to benefit from the establishment of the proposed Foundation, but other workers and other Singaporeans can and will also benefit from the activities of the proposed Foundation.

A scheme for industrial rehabilitation, for instance, when implemented by the proposed Foundation, would serve a very real need among the workers in Singapore. It has been realised for many years, in the highly industrialised countries of the West, that workmen's compensation, in the form of monetary payment, is not satisfactory from the point of view of the incapacitated workers and their dependants. No amount of monetary compensation can make up for the feeling of desperate anguish by incapacitated workers at the prospect of not being able to earn their own living. On the other hand, a scheme of industrial rehabilitation, would enable an incapacitated worker to train for an alternative employment most suitable to his altered circumstances. By so doing, it would thus help him to derive personal satisfaction from gainful employment and from being able to support his own family. With the proposed Foundation, it becomes feasible to provide the costly infrastructure and the facilities that are required for the scheme.

Thus the proposed Foundation under the Bill should eventually prove to be beneficial to workers and their employers. It is for this reason that the Bill makes provisions for donors to include persons and organisations other than workers and trade unions respectively. It is to be hoped that the employers will respond generously to the proposed Foundation which will eventually benefit them through benefitting their workers.

In any event, all potential donors and benefactors can rest assured that the funds of the proposed Foundation will be used only for the stated objectives as enumerated in the Bill. Apart tom the provision for yearly auditing, a report of the Foundation has to be tabled annually before Parliament.

My trade union colleagues and I strongly support this Bill, and we hope the rest of the Members of this House will also give their support to this Bill. 3.42 p.m.

Mr Ho See Beng: Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to congratulate the Minister for Labour for introducing this Bill for the creation of the Labour Foundation, which is designed to aid our trade union movement and assist the families of union members.

I feel sure that this Bill would not have been considered if the persons concerned in promoting the Bill had not been closely associated with the trade union movement and if the Minister for Labour had not had links with the trade union movement. We are fortunate in having a Minister for Labour who is familiar with the history of the trade union movement in Singapore and with the objectives and aspirations of labour - he is a member of the old guard, the small group of persons who, in the early 5O's took up the fight for our independence against seemingly overwhelming odds.

The passage of this Bill and the establishment of the Labour Foundation will not only benefit the-workers of Singapore but also enhance the dignity of labour. It will also dispel the allegations of certain politicians, who have been unsuccessful at recent elections, that workers are being exploited under the rule of the People's Action Party. These politicians, who inevitably appear on the public stage once every four or five years at election time, are prone to make wild and unsubstantiated statements so as to make headlines to attract public attention, even though they know that their claims are untrue.

The philosophy behind the Labour Foundation and the fact that it is being set up by our Government clearly nails the lies of the opposition as misrepresentation of the fact.

I am extremely happy that this Bill is being introduced by the Government; it also demonstrates that the contributions and sacrifices made by labour in their development and progress of Singapore have been taken into account. Therefore, as a former trade unionist, I support the Bill in principle.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to enquire whether this Foundation will also cater for the families of the trade unionists who belonged to the small band which pioneered the trade union movement in Singapore in the early fifties - in an era when trade unionism was an ugly word and trade unionists were regarded as trouble-makers. Some of these trade unionists, at great personal sacrifice, made solid and invaluable contributions in the struggle against the colonial government for economic and political freedom. Some of them are here today and some of them are no longer active because of their age and other reasons, but we should not forget the roles they played and the sacrifices they made, which in many cases resulted in their having to neglect their families. As a result, some of the families concerned are badly off and are suffering today. I feel that we should not disregard our responsibilities to these members of the old guard in the trade union field in our concern for the welfare of the trade unionists of today and tomorrow.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I would also like to refer to the statement in the Bill which states that the establishment of this Foundation will not involve the Government in any financial commitment. It is the general practice when a foundation is set up for the promoters of the foundation to make a large financial contribution to the foundation. This substantial financial contribution is not only to get the foundation going but also to demonstrate the goodwill and sincerity of the promoters to the cause for which the foundation was set up. In this case, since it is the Government which is setting up the Labour Foundation, one would expect that the Government would manifest its support for the Labour Foundation by giving it a substantial contribution to start it off.

Mr Speaker, Sir, there are several foundations in Singapore, the Lee Foundation, and the Shaw Foundation, to name two. Both these Foundations were created by philanthropists for worthy causes and they contributed substantial sums of money to start off the foundations, so that they could become viable concerns. I am therefore astonished by the statement that the Labour Foundation will not involve the Government in any financial commitment.

This prompts me to question the degree of support the Government proposes to give to the Labour Foundation. Do the objectives and rationale for the setting up of the Labour Foundation enjoy the full support and cooperation of the Government or is the Government merely establishing an edifice as a cosmetic, to provide lip service to a worthy cause?

Mr Ong Pang Boon: Mr Speaker, Sir, I am pleased by the support for the Bill expressed by the Members for Boon Teck and Khe Bong.

Sir, the Government has always believed that labour and management must work together with the Government for the social and economic development of our country. A necessary element in this tripartite policy is a vigorous modern trade union movement. The modernisation programme of the trade union movement started in 1969 was therefore supported by the Government.

Last year the National Trades Union Congress proposed the establishment of a Labour Foundation. This was endorsed by the Government since it would facilitate the social, economic and educational activities of the trade union movement. As the Member for Boon Teck pointed out, the Foundation will in effect be a central coordinating body to channel funds from the NTUC and its affiliated unions as well as other sources to finance various projects for the interest of unions and workers and their families. Members might like to know that the financial position of trade unions has improved considerably since the Government implemented the check-off scheme in 1970. The Member for Boon Teck has said rightly that our unions have for some years sufficient funds to give effect to their objectives. The question of Government contributions therefore does not arise.

The Member for Khe Bong has asked whether the Foundation would extend its welfare programmes to families of trade union members active in the fifties. Sir, this is a matter that will have to be decided by the Board of Directors of the Foundation. However, I have no doubt that the Board will take into consideration the contribution made by the old guards of the trade union movement when considering this question.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House.

The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill - [Mr Ong Pang Boon].

Bill considered in Committee, reported without amendment, read a Third time and passed.