Why strikes rarely happen in Singapore as labour unrest rises worldwide

In the past few months, many countries have seen labour unrest upend essential services and lives.

Last month, Air Canada flight attendants went on strike from 16-19 August 2025, demanding pay for work performed before take-off and after landing. The strike was estimated by the airline to have affected over 500,000 passengers.

Between 3-5 September 2025, the union of South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor rallied its members to stage walkouts demanding shorter working hours, higher wages and a retirement-age extension, potentially affecting vehicle-producing factories.

Both disruptive labour actions erupted due to breakdowns in collective bargaining or negotiations between the unions and their employers.

In contrast, strikes have been rare in Singapore, but this was not always the case.

Strikes were rampant in Singapore from the 1940s to the 1960s, resulting in significant economic costs to the fledgling nation. In 1969, at the transformative Labour Movement Modernization Seminar, NTUC vowed to reform its industrial relations approach from confrontational and adversarial to one that values collaboration and consensus-building. This shift aimed to ensure the country’s survival and economic success.

Since then, there have been two strikes observed in recent decades. These include the legally sanctioned Hydril strike of 1986, during which workers of the US-based oil equipment manufacturer protested unfair labour practices. Additionally, there was the illegal strike by over 170 SMRT bus drivers in 2012, which disrupted up to 10 per cent of the public transport operator’s services.

The scarcity of major labour incidents occurring in the city-state in many years serves as a constant reminder that Singapore’s approach to industrial relations has worked to ensure that worker unhappiness does not grind lives and livelihoods to a standstill.

The Singapore advantage

Unlike many countries that may have to deal with multiple union confederations, Singapore unions take guidance from a single trade union body—the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).

According to NTUC Deputy Secretary-General Cham Hui Fong, who has been involved in industrial relations for over 30 years, the main advantage of one confederation is having a clear direction for local unions regarding how they should conduct collective bargaining with employers.

NTUC’s key guiding principle is to ensure pro-worker policies that enable better wages, welfare, and work prospects, while providing pro-business strategies that support companies’ growth and development.

Due to the nation’s small size, Ms Cham said that the congress can also maintain relations with unions that aren’t affiliated with it, like the Air Line Pilots Association Singapore (ALPA-S) representing Singapore-based pilots, thereby ensuring further stability and peace.

Mutual benefit over individual gain

But how are Singapore unions able to succeed in ensuring that negotiations don’t go south?

Guided by a pro-worker, pro-business ethos, unions often engage in give-and-take during negotiation.

“Our veteran leaders always say, ‘Don’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg’. If we can squeeze, we will squeeze. But if you push too hard, there may be a reaction that’s not favourable,” said Ms Cham, emphasising that pushing the worker agenda too hard could lead to foreign companies outsourcing the jobs or relocating, and local companies losing their competitiveness.

Noting that such an approach has its trade-offs, she said that each union must find a way to fine-tune the balance based on its industry’s performance.

Ultimately, unions will “support the companies during difficult times, but when companies are doing well, they must reward the workers,” she said.

The veteran industrial relations practitioner cited the example of Singapore Airlines, whose pilots took hefty pay cuts during the COVID years between 2020 and 2021, but were compensated with additional bonuses beyond the official bonus once business picked up.

Ms Cham added that this mutual understanding is founded on the trust built over the years. A strong union-management relationship requires constant engagement through activities like social dialogues and timely information sharing. Union leaders are also expected to engage their members to listen to their concerns and issues.

She also said that most companies value the unions’ support in keeping industrial action at bay, especially during difficult times.

Tripartism strengthens negotiations

The strong mutual understanding between unions and employers is underpinned by tripartism. This national strategy, backed by a strong labour-political symbiosis, rallies NTUC, the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF), and the Manpower Ministry (MOM) to work toward the common goal of ensuring Singapore’s economic growth and the well-being of its workers.

“When the economy grows, the Government will pump in the resources to support the economy. Employers must do their utmost to grow their businesses. And when they grow their businesses, they must also do their best to support the workers,” Ms Cham said.

Tripartite partners pledge to continue upholding tripartism at the NTUC May Day Rally 2025. Front row, from left: SNEF President Tan Hee Teck, NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng, Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, NTUC President K. Thanaletchimi, and Manpower Minister Tan See Leng.

Focusing on issues that matter

When renewing collective agreements (CA), a legally binding deal between a union and the management, Singapore-based unions typically focus on salary adjustments, leave benefits, skills allowances, and increasing the scope of representation, particularly for PMEs.

Ms Cham shared that unions also consider the profit-sharing formula and productivity indices when deciding on bonuses and annual increments. In the past, unions would set fixed amounts for these items. However, due to global volatility, many unions have opted to leave them negotiable.

Amidst the changing worker profile and evolving needs, the seasoned negotiator shared that unions are increasingly expanding the scope of the CA to include items like family care leave and re-employment terms.

Ms Cham said that the results of their negotiation efforts speak for themselves, with local workers enjoying steady wage growth pre- and post-COVID.

“Overall, if you look at the national level, total wages have gone up,” she shared.

Singapore also has a flexible wage system in place, which prevents cuts to base wages to reduce instability.

“We want [employers] to pay more in terms of bonuses, and it has to be performance-based,” Ms Cham added.

A structured dispute resolution system

When a union and company disagree over specific terms and conditions in a CA, Singapore has a structured dispute resolution system under the law to manage the situation.

Ms Cham shared that if an issue cannot be resolved at the union-management level, it is escalated to MOM for mediation and conciliation. If the case remains unresolved at the MOM level, it can then be brought before the Industrial Arbitration Court (IAC).

She explained that any industrial action must occur before the case goes to court. If the case involves an essential service, the Manpower Minister can intervene by directing it to the IAC under the Industrial Relations Act. The law also stipulates that it is illegal for the union and the company to defy the minister’s order.

Under the Criminal Act (Temporary Provisions) Act, workers in essential services —excluding water, gas, and electricity services—can strike if they give at least 14 days’ notice to their employer and don’t have any ongoing proceedings, such as a conciliation by the Manpower Minister or a case before IAC.

Ms Cham noted that Singapore tends to follow the rules, hence there is hardly any labour unrest in the country.

Guidelines to shape behaviour

Besides the law, Ms Cham shared that the tripartite partners also issue timely, non-legally binding guidelines to complement the laws in shaping behaviour.

These advisories recommend progressive workplace practices and cover diverse areas, like well-being, fairness, and operational resilience.

“The adoption rate has been fairly healthy,” Ms Cham revealed.

“Even if companies are not adopting [the guidelines], they are aware that there are such advisories. If the companies are not playing ball with us, we can share with them the advisory and [encourage] them to uphold certain standards. Most unionised companies will typically adhere to the good practices,” she added.

Lessons from the past

Although strikes in Singapore are rare, Ms Cham noted that there are lessons to be learnt from a recent incident that almost turned into industrial action.

In July 2020, aircraft maintenance firm Eagle Services Asia prematurely notified staff of retrenchments before concluding talks with unions, sparking backlash. NTUC and the Air Transport Executive Staff Union (AESU), SIA Engineering Company Engineers and Executives Union (SEEU), and Singapore Airlines Staff Union (SIASU) intervened. They halted the process and authorised a secret ballot for potential industrial action.

Not wanting a strike or sit-out to affect their future business, the company agreed to resume retrenchment talks with the three unions. After negotiations, the proportion of Singaporeans laid off was reduced from 56 to 44 per cent, with added training grants and job support via NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute).

“After the incident, we told management that they must do more to rebuild the trust. We told our union leaders the same, and we have done more to rebuild the trust,” said Ms Cham.

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