Few employees can take pleasure in calling their office a home away from home. At NTUC, you can.

By Nabilah Husna A. Rahman

The air of hospitality at the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) is uncommon to such a large organisation. But NTUC is not like every other organisation – it upholds a people-oriented and homely environment for both its staff and members.

While the general public may associate NTUC with its more well-known fronts – namely, NTUC Income and NTUC FairPrice – the non-profit organisation also provides a variety of services for its members in the workforce. This includes offering assistance to members who bring issues like workplace disputes to the attention of the congress.

The Industrial Relations Department, in which Sharon Lim plays her role as an Industrial Relations Officer, deals with such matters.

“My work is somehow unpredictable. You won’t always know the entire background of the members’ issue, but you need to almost immediately give them advice,” the former Hospitality Management student says. “It’s very impromptu – so training in this aspect is very important.”

Fighting for the workers’ cause – that’s all in a day’s work for Chia Ling and Valerie, both of whom are employees at NTUC.

By Tang Pin-Ji

To the uninitiated, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) is a huge family made up of 60 trade unions, six taxi associations, and 12 Social Enterprises. The core of the organisation’s business, however, lies in industrial relations – representing employees and being their voice in negotiating for better employment terms and benefits with their respective organisations.

A better life for others
Koh Chia Ling is a Principal Industrial Relations Officer with the United Workers of Electronic and Electrical Industries (UWEEI), which represents workers in that particular manufacturing sector. She elaborates, “Our role is to help workers to have more equitable benefits together with the management. We represent the workers in terms of bonuses and increments, grievance cases, collective agreement – which is the document that governs their terms and benefits – and also retrenchment, as well as any other areas relating to employment.”

“Make yourself necessary to somebody,” said poet and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882). And this is so true for two employees of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), both of whom enjoy a rewarding career as they reach out to workers and help them attain a better life.

By Ruth Wong

“Before joining NTUC, I thought it was a place with lots of politics and bureaucracy. But since working here, I realise it’s an organisation with lots of passion for the workers!” says Christine Neo, 26, an Employability Coach with the Employability Enhancement Department. She has been with NTUC for five years now...