By Goh Chin Lian, Senior Political Correspondent

THE labour movement called on bosses yesterday to take the lead in Singapore's drive to be more competitive.

It also put the ball in their court to spell out what should be done.

'If the management of a company has no vision for a cheaper, better and faster economy, we will all be in trouble,' said labour chief Lim Swee Say at a National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) conference yesterday.

As for the labour movement, he said its role is to support the management by mobilising workers to upgrade their skills and acquire new ones.

Mr Lim made the point when he wrapped up the NTUC's three-day Ordinary Delegates Conference, held every two years to take stock of its achievements and chart its future course.

In his closing remarks, Mr Lim highlighted the worries of union leaders who feared bosses would resort to layoffs, cut wages, or compromise workplace safety, in their bid to improve competitiveness.

To reassure them he urged bosses to raise the productivity of their existing workforce, by 'doing more with the same, not doing the same with less'.

Taking up a point raised by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong earlier this week, Mr Lim warned businesses and workers not to underestimate the challenges of a gradual recovery in the next two years.

Already, the United States is facing its highest unemployment rate in 26 years, and Britain, in 23 years. Joblessness is also at a historical high in Japan.

'I keep worrying that people do not realise how severe the global unemployment is,' he told 1,000 union leaders.

He said NTUC was looking forward to next year's Budget, when the Government is expected to announce new schemes to help companies become more competitive.

In particular, there should be incentives to encourage companies to employ technology, innovate and develop markets, said Mr Lim, who is a Minister in the Prime Minister's Office.

NTUC's latest drive for a cheaper, better and faster economy essentially boils down to raising productivity, creating new products and finding new markets.

So, being cheaper means producing goods and services of better quality at lower cost while being better means beefing up capabilities through developing technology, creating products and growing new markets.

Along with being cheaper and better, companies also have to be faster, by being adaptable and responsive to new business opportunities.

Mr Lim said he was encouraged by the initial positive response of companies to NTUC's new drive.

Employer groups such as the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) and Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry have expressed their support.

SNEF vice-president Bob Tan said that although the drive to be cheaper, better and faster was not new in substance, it was all the more relevant now as global competition intensifies.

SNEF would be encouraging bosses to take the lead and work with the unions, he said, adding:

'Companies in most other countries might want to be flexible or change their work practices, but they can't carry the ground and face workers who do not want to change.

'Now that the unions here have opened the door to work with management, management should take good advantage of this.'

Unionists at the conference were also concerned that no worker should be left behind as bosses and unions gear up for the competition.

To help working and back-to-work women, the labour movement is studying practices in Denmark, a country whose fertility rate, workforce participation rate and happiness quotient rank higher than Singapore's, noted Mr Lim.

For low-wage workers, he said more plans will be announced next month to encourage organisations to adopt best sourcing practice.

This practice of taking into account both price and quality in awarding contracts has helped to raise the wages of cleaners, Mr Lim said.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.