by Jeremy Au Yong

TOUGH times are a double-edged sword for the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).

On the one hand, job losses and the sending home of foreign workers means that many members quit the unions.

On the other hand, the uncertainty of the times sees many of those who were previously disinterested in unions signing up as members as they seek help and protection.

Labour chief Lim Swee Say noted yesterday that unions have always been able to come out on top in difficult situations.

Speaking at an event to recognise unions which have done well to recruit new members, he revealed that the NTUC had a net gain of 38,000 members in the last two years.

This is despite the impact of inflation and the global recession. It lost 92,000 members in that period but gained 130,000.

In fact, it was clear to the NTUC that workers regarded union membership as being more meaningful each time there was a downturn.

In 1998, in the wake of the Asian economic crisis, NTUC-affiliated unions added 15,000 members.

In 2001 after the dot.com bubble burst, membership grew by 24,000. In 2003, during the Sars outbreak, the unions gained 30,000 members.

But Mr Lim stressed yesterday that unions need to do a better job at holding onto members if the labour movement is to reach its goal of one million members by 2015.

'In the last two years we lost 92,000 members. In the next two years, we cannot afford to keep losing members. So we have to find ways to retain more of these members,' he said.

There was a need for unions to form lifelong relationships with members, while also ramping up recruitment efforts, he said.

Giving a breakdown of the kind of people the NTUC has been able to attract, he said that about one-third of all rank-and-file workers here and one-fifth of professionals, managers, executives and technicians are currently union members.

He was also happy that the profile of union members is becoming younger.

While 72 per cent of members are aged over 35, he noted that half of the new members recruited in the past two years were below that age.

Yesterday, the NTUC celebrated hitting the figure of 530,000 members and said its next immediate target would be 600,000 members.

The NTUC has usually had unique ways of marking membership milestones and yesterday was no different.

Two years ago, when it first hit the 500,000-membership mark, Mr Lim and NTUC leaders burst through a white screen to celebrate the breakthrough in its bid to ramp up membership figures.

Yesterday, Mr Lim and others at the event played the role of mountaineers.

They all first hooked themselves up to a long rope in the room, and Mr Lim then attached the rope to a rock on the stage.

The gesture was meant to symbolise the labour movement slowly climbing up a mountain in order to reach the summit and the goal of one million members by 2015.

And though the ultimate target of doubling their current membership in six years may seem ambitious, union leaders said they were confident it could be done.

The Building Construction and Timber Industries Employees' Union has certainly been trying its best.

Last year, its members spent weekends reaching out to foreign workers by visiting their dormitories and worksites.

Some days, they would go down for visits as early as 4am so they could speak to workers before their work shifts began. The union gained some 1,000 members last year by doing this.

Said union president Nasordin Mohd Hashim, 48: 'If all the unions do their part, if we all do a little bit, I think we can make it.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times.