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Singapore's civil service is world's best, says labour chief
SINGAPORE: Labour chief Lim Swee Say said Singapore should not be shy about having one of the highest paid civil services in the world.
He said this is because Singapore's civil service is the world's best and most effective and part of the credit must go to the public sector's biggest union, The Amalgamated Union of Public Employees (AUPE).
The 52-year-old union, which represents over 16,000 employees from the civil service and statutory boards, elected its new executive council on Saturday.
NTUC Secretary General Lim Swee Say said public sector employees in Singapore are treated much better than their counterparts around the world.
And he explained why Singapore has one of the world's highest paid and best public services.
"We may be the highest paid, but at the same time it is also important for them to understand we're probably the most effective, the best civil service in the world. And this came about because AUPE and PSD (Public Service Division), we work hand in hand, so on the one hand, we negotiate for fair terms, for good terms, for responsive rewards for civil servants.
"And yet at the same time, we mobilise our ground to ensure that the civil service always move ahead, stay ahead to do their best for the citizens of Singapore, because that is our purpose, our mission."
He was speaking to union leaders at the AUPE's Delegates Conference.
The conference saw the election of the AUPE's new executive council, with 25 candidates contesting the 22 posts available.
It also saw the conferment of the third Ong Teng Cheong Institute fellowship on 62-year-old retired unionist Teo Yock Ngee, who has served the AUPE since 1984.
Mr Teo said one of the challenges of the AUPE's new leadership would be to continue ensuring public sector employees are reasonably paid.
"Because in the public sector, we have to rely on GDP rather than anything else, we can't follow like in the private sector, whether that industry is doing well or which company is doing well. That would be easy and more straightforward. Public sector we have to work with the government representatives through public service division to arrive at some kind of understanding how much in terms of variable payments, the bonus."
The new executive council will serve till 2015.
-CNA/ac
Singapore's civil service is world's best, says labour chief
SINGAPORE: Labour chief Lim Swee Say said Singapore should not be shy about having one of the highest paid civil services in the world.
He said this is because Singapore's civil service is the world's best and most effective and part of the credit must go to the public sector's biggest union, The Amalgamated Union of Public Employees (AUPE).
The 52-year-old union, which represents over 16,000 employees from the civil service and statutory boards, elected its new executive council on Saturday.
NTUC Secretary General Lim Swee Say said public sector employees in Singapore are treated much better than their counterparts around the world.
And he explained why Singapore has one of the world's highest paid and best public services.
"We may be the highest paid, but at the same time it is also important for them to understand we're probably the most effective, the best civil service in the world. And this came about because AUPE and PSD (Public Service Division), we work hand in hand, so on the one hand, we negotiate for fair terms, for good terms, for responsive rewards for civil servants.
"And yet at the same time, we mobilise our ground to ensure that the civil service always move ahead, stay ahead to do their best for the citizens of Singapore, because that is our purpose, our mission."
He was speaking to union leaders at the AUPE's Delegates Conference.
The conference saw the election of the AUPE's new executive council, with 25 candidates contesting the 22 posts available.
It also saw the conferment of the third Ong Teng Cheong Institute fellowship on 62-year-old retired unionist Teo Yock Ngee, who has served the AUPE since 1984.
Mr Teo said one of the challenges of the AUPE's new leadership would be to continue ensuring public sector employees are reasonably paid.
"Because in the public sector, we have to rely on GDP rather than anything else, we can't follow like in the private sector, whether that industry is doing well or which company is doing well. That would be easy and more straightforward. Public sector we have to work with the government representatives through public service division to arrive at some kind of understanding how much in terms of variable payments, the bonus."
The new executive council will serve till 2015.
-CNA/ac
