ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors examine how Singapore's system of tripartite industrial relations has responded to the challenges of globalization, and how trade unions and workers have fared in the process. In discussing globalization and its effects on trade unions and labour market deregulation, two features distinguish Singapore's case: first, the vulnerability of a small, yet highly internationalized economy; and second, the symbiotic relationship between the trade union movement and the ruling People's Action Party. Singapore took its first step in internationalization in 1965 when it was separated from Malaysia. The industrial relations system in Singapore has often been described as a tripartite system with the government playing the key coordinating/balancing role in labour-management relations. Multi national comapnies often choose Singapore as the first stop when they decide to relocate their operations. Until the mid-1980s, labour-management relations in Singapore remained highly regulated and institutionalized.
