ABSTRACT
Singapore’s extraordinary economic progress has largely been driven by the success of tripartite partnerships. In the future, Singapore will undergo unprecedented challenges arising from technological disruptions, globalisation and a demanding workforce with varying lifestyle and career aspirations. The labour movement in Singapore is working closely with the government and employers to encourage progressive employment practices in order to maximise human capital. The union movement is also widening in representation scope and revitalising its offerings to stay relevant to an increasingly divergent workforce. To help propel Singapore’s economy, the labour movement is supporting Singapore’s economic restructuring efforts. In tandem with this economic overhaul, the labour movement is also infusing resilience into the workforce against future employment volatility by expanding its conventional worker representation approach to include worker empowerment through life-long learning. The applicability of the concepts of ‘varieties of capitalism’ and ‘varieties of unionism’ to Singapore’s labour movement is also discussed.
