MPs clash over ruling party's close relationship with NTUC

Whether the close relationship between the People's Action Party (PAP) and the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) is good for workers here was the subject of a 30-minute exchange in Parliament on Sept 9 when the House discussed a Bill to strengthen protections for platform workers.

- Goh Yan Han

PAP MPs argued that this alliance has ensured that the views and needs of workers have been conveyed to the political leadership and prioritised, and that this is reflected in the ruling party's track record since it has been in government.

The issue was raised by Mr Gerald Giam (Aljunied GRC) during the debate on the Platform Workers Bill.

While acknowledging the union leaders' hard work, the Workers' Party (WP) MP questioned if they could fully advocate workers' interests if they were also PAP members.

He noted that many PAP MPs and branch chairpersons serve as advisers to NTUC-affiliated unions.

Should workers' interests conflict with government policies or party agenda, these leaders may feel pressured to support such policies even if they feel that doing so compromises workers' needs, said Mr Giam.

"Furthermore, an overly close relationship between the PAP and unions risks creating groupthink, where union leaders are less inclined to challenge prevailing policies or explore alternative solutions," he added.

He also suggested that if the PAP were to lose power, unions aligned with the PAP might struggle to work with the new government, or lose the support of workers who voted for the new administration, potentially weakening their effectiveness.

Midway through his speech, Mr Christopher de Souza (Holland-Bukit Timah GRC) raised a point of order that Mr Giam had not referenced any provision in the Bill, and what he said was instead "predominantly an attack against the NTUC”.

"We cannot, Mr Speaker, be using Parliament and legislation to craft political speeches that go well beyond the ambit and the scope of the legislation that we are debating," said Mr de Souza, addressing Speaker of Parliament Seah Kian Peng.