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Nathan recalls fight for workers' rights
New book gives insights into how NTUC overcame early struggles
By Rachel Chang & Kor Kian Beng
ON THE cover is a picture of three trade unionists, arms locked, fingers entwined in solidarity, being forcibly wrenched away from a strike by police officers.
The year was 1961, and 216 people were protesting outside Robinsons department store against management practices.
To President S R Nathan - whose new book the picture adorns - it is an apt snapshot of those tumultuous times, when the demands of trade unions were hard to separate from the militant agenda of their pro-communist backers.
The picture itself is open to differing interpretations from people, Mr Nathan told reporters ahead of yesterday's book launch: 'One will tell you that these are nasty policemen... The other will say, look at these (union) men, why are they behaving like this?'
The book, Winning Against The Odds - The Labour Research Unit In NTUC's Founding, launched to coincide with the National Trades Union Congress' 50th anniversary, wrestles with those questions from the vantage point of a young Mr Na-than. He had been seconded from the civil service to a newly set-up body named the Labour Research Unit (LRU).
It was created to help the fledgling NTUC, which was struggling to establish a foothold among trade unions and[COLOR="_______"] fight the communist-controlled Singapore Association of Trade Unions[/COLOR].
Men like Mr Nathan in the LRU also provided unions with the brainpower to champion workers' rights and deal with the management of companies - many of them multinationals at the time.
The LRU was an unorthodox entity.
'It was not a company, nor a statutory board, nor a government department. In fact it did not exist at all as a legal entity. Thus in slightly [COLOR="_______"]unorthodox circumstances I became part of the struggle,[/COLOR]' Mr Nathan, 86, recounts in the 176-page book.
He would work for the NTUC for only four years, from 1962 to 1966. But the period was a decisive one in winning workers over to the PAP-allied NTUC's side.
Although the LRU's brief was to assist unions in their industrial negotiations, it found itself caught between the political push-and-pull of the time.
As LRU director, Mr Nathan had to walk a fine line between championing workers' rights and avoiding the sort of industrial strife that was turning investors away from newly independent Singapore.
[COLOR="_______"]To fail in the former task would mean losing workers to the communists;[/COLOR] to fail in the latter would mean grave unemployment and economic doom.
'We wanted a (labour) movement that was interested in Singapore, in the prosperity of Singapore and interested in giving people associated with it a better life,' he said in an interview at the Istana.
He said he initially did not think his memories of the time were worthy of publication. But friends urged him on.
At the book launch at the NTUC Centre, labour chief Lim Swee Say said the book would be vital reference material, especially for the insights into how the NTUC overcame its early struggles.
'This book reminds us of the struggle in winning the hearts and minds of workers and union leaders, and is valuable reading for unionists, NTUC staff and younger Singaporeans,' he told more than 500 guests.
Mr Nathan's book is also a gift to the NTUC on its milestone year, and an expression of his admiration for the role played by the late Mr Devan Nair - the NTUC founding secretary-general who became Singapore's third president.
Mr Nathan maintained a relationship with Mr Nair until his death in 2005.
'I know of many who would be perplexed by this man and what happened to him in later years,' he said. 'But as a witness of his uncanny ability to lead and motivate the loyalty of the bunch of comrades who followed him, I can do no less (than dedicate the book to him).'
Mr Nair, who became president in 1981, resigned in 1985 under a cloud of controversy after it was disclosed that he was an alcoholic. He later denied such an addiction. He left for the United States shortly after he stepped down, and later settled in Canada.
Mr Nathan left NTUC and returned to the civil service in 1966, due in part to conflict with some unionists who thought he was trying to usurp their positions of power. The LRU was then absorbed into NTUC and renamed the Administration and Research Unit.
But Mr Nathan viewed his years there with no regrets and has remained a staunch NTUC advocate: 'Whatever I tried to do, I tried to do in the best interest of the labour movement.'
And reflecting on the struggle that he unwittingly became a part of, he added: 'We could easily have lost.'
[email protected]
[email protected]
New book gives insights into how NTUC overcame early struggles
By Rachel Chang & Kor Kian Beng
ON THE cover is a picture of three trade unionists, arms locked, fingers entwined in solidarity, being forcibly wrenched away from a strike by police officers.
The year was 1961, and 216 people were protesting outside Robinsons department store against management practices.
To President S R Nathan - whose new book the picture adorns - it is an apt snapshot of those tumultuous times, when the demands of trade unions were hard to separate from the militant agenda of their pro-communist backers.
The picture itself is open to differing interpretations from people, Mr Nathan told reporters ahead of yesterday's book launch: 'One will tell you that these are nasty policemen... The other will say, look at these (union) men, why are they behaving like this?'
The book, Winning Against The Odds - The Labour Research Unit In NTUC's Founding, launched to coincide with the National Trades Union Congress' 50th anniversary, wrestles with those questions from the vantage point of a young Mr Na-than. He had been seconded from the civil service to a newly set-up body named the Labour Research Unit (LRU).
It was created to help the fledgling NTUC, which was struggling to establish a foothold among trade unions and[COLOR="_______"] fight the communist-controlled Singapore Association of Trade Unions[/COLOR].
Men like Mr Nathan in the LRU also provided unions with the brainpower to champion workers' rights and deal with the management of companies - many of them multinationals at the time.
The LRU was an unorthodox entity.
'It was not a company, nor a statutory board, nor a government department. In fact it did not exist at all as a legal entity. Thus in slightly [COLOR="_______"]unorthodox circumstances I became part of the struggle,[/COLOR]' Mr Nathan, 86, recounts in the 176-page book.
He would work for the NTUC for only four years, from 1962 to 1966. But the period was a decisive one in winning workers over to the PAP-allied NTUC's side.
Although the LRU's brief was to assist unions in their industrial negotiations, it found itself caught between the political push-and-pull of the time.
As LRU director, Mr Nathan had to walk a fine line between championing workers' rights and avoiding the sort of industrial strife that was turning investors away from newly independent Singapore.
[COLOR="_______"]To fail in the former task would mean losing workers to the communists;[/COLOR] to fail in the latter would mean grave unemployment and economic doom.
'We wanted a (labour) movement that was interested in Singapore, in the prosperity of Singapore and interested in giving people associated with it a better life,' he said in an interview at the Istana.
He said he initially did not think his memories of the time were worthy of publication. But friends urged him on.
At the book launch at the NTUC Centre, labour chief Lim Swee Say said the book would be vital reference material, especially for the insights into how the NTUC overcame its early struggles.
'This book reminds us of the struggle in winning the hearts and minds of workers and union leaders, and is valuable reading for unionists, NTUC staff and younger Singaporeans,' he told more than 500 guests.
Mr Nathan's book is also a gift to the NTUC on its milestone year, and an expression of his admiration for the role played by the late Mr Devan Nair - the NTUC founding secretary-general who became Singapore's third president.
Mr Nathan maintained a relationship with Mr Nair until his death in 2005.
'I know of many who would be perplexed by this man and what happened to him in later years,' he said. 'But as a witness of his uncanny ability to lead and motivate the loyalty of the bunch of comrades who followed him, I can do no less (than dedicate the book to him).'
Mr Nair, who became president in 1981, resigned in 1985 under a cloud of controversy after it was disclosed that he was an alcoholic. He later denied such an addiction. He left for the United States shortly after he stepped down, and later settled in Canada.
Mr Nathan left NTUC and returned to the civil service in 1966, due in part to conflict with some unionists who thought he was trying to usurp their positions of power. The LRU was then absorbed into NTUC and renamed the Administration and Research Unit.
But Mr Nathan viewed his years there with no regrets and has remained a staunch NTUC advocate: 'Whatever I tried to do, I tried to do in the best interest of the labour movement.'
And reflecting on the struggle that he unwittingly became a part of, he added: 'We could easily have lost.'
[email protected]
[email protected]
