Feb 21, 2009NTUC should help them. In Singapore, retrenched workers are particularly vulnerable. That's because Singapore is literally the easiest place in the world to pay a worker peanuts; make him work overtime; and then sack him without compensation.
Retrenched to get more aid
By Nur Dianah Suhaimi
RETRENCHED workers can expect more help from the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), which hopes to boost its war chest to $20 million this year.
Particularly in need are retrenched workers who received little, if any, retrenchment benefit, said its secretary-general, Mr Lim Swee Say, yesterday (21/2).
To help this group tide over difficult times, NTUC may add a new 'hardship grant' component to its Care and Share fund, which currently provides aid to needy union members in the form of transport and utility vouchers.
The fund will increase its annual budget to at least $20 million this year, compared to $13.1 million last year and $7 million in 2007.
Mr Lim, who is also Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, spoke to reporters at the Healthcare Services Employees' Union (HSEU) bursary awards event yesterday.
'With the global recession, we expect to see some retrenched workers whose companies have folded,' he said. These workers may not get any retrenchment benefit or the sum could be too low to tide them over in the short term, he added.
Am I exaggerating? Engaging in hyperbole? Unfortunately not. My statement is proven, among other things, by a detailed international study done in 2007, covering more than 150 countries around the world.