SINGAPORE: The Manpower Ministry (MoM) has met with consumer electronics giant Dyson to work on an “amicable solution”, after the company gave a labour union just one-day’s notice of its retrenchment exercise.
MoM said early yesterday that it received a request from the United Workers of Electronics and Electrical Industries (Uweei) for a conciliation session with Dyson.
MoM met with Dyson on Wednesday and will also meet with the Uweei “to understand the concerns of both parties and to explore an amicable resolution”, the ministry said.
It comes after Uweei executive secretary Patrick Tay reiterated on Wednesday that the union is disappointed that it was informed of the retrenchment exercise only a day before Dyson laid off an undisclosed number of workers on Tuesday.
“This is unacceptable as it does not give sufficient time for discussion between Dyson and Uweei to ensure not just a fair, but also a responsible and progressive, retrenchment exercise,” Tay said, adding that more time for discussion would allow affected workers to be better supported.
MoM in its statement yesterday said that under the Tripartite Advisory on Managing Excess Manpower and Responsible Retrenchment, unionised companies should give unions early notice when informing employees of retrenchments.
“For Dyson, while the company is unionised, the retrenched professionals, managers and executives (PMEs) are not unionised, and they are not part of the scope of the union’s collective representation,” MoM noted.
“Hence the period of notice to inform Uweei is negotiable,” it said.
MoM added that the formula adopted for computing retrenchment benefits for PMEs does not have to be based on that used for a rank-and-file employee, and is negotiable between the union and the company. — The Straits Times/ANN
