Singapore
The ITUC affiliate in Singapore is the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).
Legal
Freedom of association / Right to organise
Freedom of association
The right to freedom of association is enshrined in the Constitution.
The right to freedom of association is recognised by law but strictly regulated.
Anti-Union discrimination
The law prohibits anti-union discrimination.
Barriers to the establishment of organisations
- Prior authorisation or approval by authorities required for the establishment of a union
- Formation of a union is subject to the approval of the Registrar of Trade Unions, who has wide-ranging powers to refuse or cancel registration, particularly where a union already exists for workers in a particular occupation or industry. Parliament may impose restrictions on the formation of a union on the grounds of security, public order or morality.
Restrictions on trade unions’ right to organise their administration
- Restrictions on the right to freely draw up their constitutions and rules
- Trade unions must submit new rules, or alterations to their existing rules, to the Registrar for approval within seven days of the rule change. The Registrar has the right to refuse the rule change if s/he deems it either unlawful or "oppressive or unreasonable".
- Restrictions on the right to elect representatives and self-administer in full freedom
- The Trade Union Act limits what unions can spend their funds on and prohibits payments to political parties or the use of funds for political purposes.
- Administrative authorities’ power to unilaterally dissolve, suspend or de-register trade union organisations
- The Registrar may cancel the registration of trade union on a broad range of motives. Art. 15 of the Trade Unions Act (1949): "The Registrar may cancel the registration of trade union [...] if he is satisfied (iv) the union is being used for any unlawful purpose or for any purpose inconsistent with its objects and rules; (v) that the trade union has rescinded any rule providing for any matter for which provision is required by section 38 or has willfully and after notice from the Registrar — (A) contravened any provision of this Act or allowed any rule to continue in force which is inconsistent with any such provision; or (B) allowed any rule to continue in force which is in the opinion of the Registrar oppressive or unreasonable; (vi) that the funds of the trade union are expended in an unlawful manner or on an unlawful object or on an object not authorised by the rules of the union; or (c) if he is satisfied in the case of a trade union of workmen in a particular trade, occupation or industry, that it is being used or is likely to be used against the interests of workmen in that particular trade, occupation or industry; or (d) if he is of the opinion in the case of a trade union of workmen in a particular trade, occupation or industry and having regard to the existence of another trade union or other trade unions of workmen in the same trade, occupation or industry that it is necessary in the interests of the workmen in that particular trade, occupation or industry, to cancel or withdraw the certificate of registration of the trade union.
Categories of workers prohibited or limited from forming or joining a union, or from holding a union office
- Others categories
- Trade union members who are under 21 years of age need prior written approval from the Minister to serve as a trustee or executive of a trade union.
- Other civil servants and public employees
- Although the Trade Unions Act prohibits government employees from joining trade unions, the law gives the President of Singapore the right to make exceptions to this provision. The Amalgamated Union of Public Employees (AUPE) was granted such an exemption, and its scope of representation now covers all public sector employees except the most senior civil servants. In addition to AUPE, 15 other public sector unions are exempted. Uniformed personnel involved in maintaining security and public order are not allowed to organise.
- Non-national or migrant workers
- The Trade Unions Act bars any person "who is not a citizen of Singapore" from serving as a national or branch officer of a trade union unless prior written approval is received from the Minister. The Act also stipulates that a foreign national cannot be hired as an employee of a trade union without prior written agreement from the Minister. Similarly, a foreign national is forbidden to serve as a trustee of a trade union without the Minister's written permission.
Others restrictions
- Others restrictions
- Administrative appeals against the decisions of the Registrar must be lodged with the Minister whose decision is final. There is no judicial recourse available. According to article 17 of the Trade Unions Act (1949), “Any person aggrieved by the refusal of the registrar to register a trade union, or by an order of the registrar under section 15 may appeal against the refusal or order to the Minister at any time within a period of 30 days reckoned from the date of the refusal or order." Furthermore, article 18 of the Trade Unions Act provides that "decisions of the Minister on an appeal shall be final and shall not be called in question in any court.”
Right to collective bargaining
Right to collective bargaining
The right to collective bargaining is recognised by law but strictly regulated.
Restrictions on the principle of free and voluntary bargaining
- Exclusion of certain matters from the scope of bargaining (e.g. wages, hours)
- Transfers and layoffs are excluded from the scope of collective bargaining, although unions have the right to ask for the reasons behind the retrenchment and to negotiate compensation for workers in such cases.
- Compulsory conciliation
conciliation
An attempt by a neutral third party, a conciliator, to aid the settling of an industrial dispute by improving communications, offering advice and interpreting issues to bring the disputing parties to a point where they can reconcile their differences. The conciliator does not take as active a role as a mediator or an arbitrator.
See arbitration, mediation and / or binding arbitration arbitration A means of resolving disputes outside the courts through the involvement of a neutral third party, which can either be a single arbitrator or an arbitration board. In non-binding arbitration, the disputing parties are free to reject the third party’s recommendation, whilst in binding arbitration they are bound by its decision. Compulsory arbitration denotes the process where arbitration is not voluntarily entered into by the parties, but is prescribed by law or decided by the authorities.
See conciliation, mediation procedure in the event of disputes during collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.
See collective bargaining agreement
, other than in essential services essential services Services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population. Can include the hospital sector, electricity and water supply services, and air traffic control. Strikes can be restricted or even prohibited in essential services.
See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
- Disputes can be settled by means of negotiations through the Ministry of Manpower using the procedures laid down by the Industrial Relations Act. If conciliation fails, the parties may submit their case to the Industrial Arbitration Court (IAC). In limited situations, the law provides for a system of recourse to compulsory arbitration, which can put an end to collective bargaining at the request of only one of the parties.
Restrictions on the scope of application and legal effectiveness of concluded collective agreements
- Excessive majority required to authorise the endorsement of a draft collective agreement
- Under an amendment to the Trade Unions Act adopted in 2004, union members no longer have the power to accept or reject collective agreements negotiated between their union representatives and the employer.
- Restrictions on the duration, scope of application or coverage of collective agreements
- All collective agreements have a validity of no less than 2 years and no more than 3 years.
- Authorities’ approval of freely concluded collective agreements
- Collective agreements must be certified by the tripartite Industrial Arbitration Court (IAC) before they come into effect. The IAC can refuse certification on the grounds of public interest. A certified agreement is legally binding on both the employers and the union.
Limitations or ban on collective bargaining in certain sectors
- Other categories
- Under the Trade Unions Act, only “workmen” who are under a contract of service or apprenticeship can join trade unions. Self-employed persons are usually under contract for services, and thus do not fall within the scope of the “workman” definition. In addition, unions generally are not allowed to represent those in senior management. Lastly, certain public employees (i.e. police officers, employees in the prison services etc) cannot join unions, and thus do not engage in collective bargaining.
Right to strike
Right to strike
The right to strike is recognised in the Labour Law.
Barriers to lawful strike actions
- Obligation to observe an excessive quorum or to obtain an excessive majority in a ballot to call a strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike - To call a strike, 50% plus one of all the trade union's members must vote in favour.
- Compulsory recourse to arbitration
arbitration
A means of resolving disputes outside the courts through the involvement of a neutral third party, which can either be a single arbitrator or an arbitration board. In non-binding arbitration, the disputing parties are free to reject the third party’s recommendation, whilst in binding arbitration they are bound by its decision. Compulsory arbitration denotes the process where arbitration is not voluntarily entered into by the parties, but is prescribed by law or decided by the authorities.
See conciliation, mediation , or to long and complex conciliation conciliation An attempt by a neutral third party, a conciliator, to aid the settling of an industrial dispute by improving communications, offering advice and interpreting issues to bring the disputing parties to a point where they can reconcile their differences. The conciliator does not take as active a role as a mediator or an arbitrator.
See arbitration, mediation and mediation mediation A process halfway between conciliation and arbitration, in mediation a neutral third party assists the disputing parties in reaching a settlement to an industrial dispute by suggesting possible, non-binding solutions.
See arbitration, conciliation procedures prior to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike actions - Art.31 Industrial Relations Act (1960): “A Court shall have cognizance of a trade dispute where – (…) (b) a trade union or an employer who is a party to a trade dispute makes a request in writing to the Registrar that under section 50(1) of the Employment Act (Cap. 91) the trade dispute be submitted to arbitration; (…) (e) the Minister by notice in the Gazette directs that the trade dispute be submitted to arbitration; or (f) the President of Singapore by proclamation declares that by reason of special circumstances it is essential in the public interest that a trade dispute be submitted to arbitration.”
Ban or limitations on certain types of strike actions
- Restrictions with respect to type of strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike action (e.g. pickets, wild-cat, working to rule, sit-down, go-slow go-slow A form of industrial action whereby the workers deliberately reduce their pace of work in order to restrict output.
See work-to-rule ) - Under the Trade Disputes Act, article 3, “An industrial action shall be illegal if —(a) it has any other object than the furtherance of a trade dispute within the trade or industry in which the persons taking part in the industrial action are engaged; (b) it is in furtherance of a trade dispute of which an Industrial Arbitration Court has cognizance; or (c) it is designed or calculated to coerce the Government either directly or by inflicting hardship on the community.” In addition, sympathy strikes are prohibited.
Undermining of the recourse to strike actions or their effectiveness
- Absence of specific protection for workers involved in lawful strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike actions (e.g. against dismissal) - There is no specific legislation that prohibits retaliation against strikers.
- Excessive civil or penal sanctions for workers and unions involved in non-authorised strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike actions - If the strike is unlawful, it may be deemed as an offence under section 27 of the Trade Unions Act. Under article 9(1) of the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act of 1955, any workman who commences, continues or otherwise acts in furtherance of a strike which is illegal under this Part shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both. A similar penalty applies to any person who instigates or incites others to take part in, or otherwise acts in furtherance of, a strike deemed illegal (article 10 of the Act).
Limitations or ban on strikes in certain sectors
- Other limitations (e.g. in EPZ export processing zone A special industrial area in a country where imported materials are processed before being re-exported. Designed to attract mostly foreign investors by offering incentives such as exemptions from certain trade barriers, taxes, business regulations, and/or labour laws. s)
- A number of categories of workers are not allowed to strike: public servants, hospital personnel, port workers, employees of airlines and self-employed workers.
In practice
On 26 November 2012, 100 Chinese bus drivers organised a strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
demanding equal pay and payment for overtime work. The Singaporean authorities decided to deport 29 of them and prosecute five others. Four of them were released on bail, while one was convicted and received a six week prison sentence. The four drivers who were released on bail, as well as human rights defenders assisting them, reported being followed by Singapore’s internal security department on several occasions over the two months that followed. They filed a police report on the matter in January 2013, but no action was taken to stop the intimidation. Two of them also reported that they had been ill-treated. The government argued that the work stoppage was an illegal strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
in an essential public service. However, the ILO
International Labour Organization
A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.
See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights
has determined that bus transportation is not an essential service.
Foreign domestic workers have little opportunity to organise to defend their rights or demand improvements in their conditions of work. Labour laws exclude approximately 180,000 migrant domestic workers from key protections guaranteed to other workers, such as a weekly day off, limits on working hours, annual leave, paid holidays, and caps on salary deductions.
Restrictions on migrant workers’ rights to serve as an officer, trustee or staff member of a union (without prior written approval by the Minister) affect a significant percentage of the country’s workforce. According to the government’s Ministry of Manpower, at the end of 2007 the total work force in Singapore was 2,730,000 with 900,800 (33%) noted as foreign workers.
The government’s tight rein on industrial action
industrial action
Any form of action taken by a group of workers, a union or an employer during an industrial dispute to gain concessions from the other party, e.g. a strike, go-slow or an overtime ban, or a lockout on the part of the employer.
, and the tradition of non-confrontational industrial relations
industrial relations
The individual and collective relations and dealings between workers and employers at the workplace, as well as the institutional interaction between unions, employers and also the government.
See social dialogue
, has meant that there have been only two officially recorded days of strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
action since 1978. However, strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
actions have occasionally occurred. There were no strikes in 2009.
With the exception of six unions, the rest of the country’s 61 unions are affiliated with the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), which has close relationship with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP). The NTUC Secretary General currently serves on the PAP Central Executive Committee. The NTUC secretary general also holds a seat in the Cabinet as a minister in the Prime Minister’s Office. Trade unions may not contribute to political parties, and the NTUC does not permit members supportive of opposition policies to hold office. The NTUC-PAP relationship, which dates back to the founding of the NTUC in 1961, is described as “symbiotic” and was formally endorsed in 1980 at the NTUC Ordinary Delegates Conference. It was publicly reaffirmed in December 2004. Currently, there are 16 PAP MPs with direct or former ties to the NTUC.
Practice suggests that many of the laws are outdated, as in reality many of the potential restrictions on trade union rights are not applied. The unions have called for these outdated restrictions to be removed from the country’s legislation.