2017- 4th Generation of SIEU Leaders
The Quadrennial Delegates Conference held on 13 Jan 2017 saw the transition and renewal of union leadership. With the renewal, SIEU now has twice the number of leaders below 40 years old as compared to the previous term. The median age of the leaders was also brought down from 52 years old to 48 years old. There are also more executives and managers taking on union leadership roles, a reflection of the evolution of the union in accordance with the industry. Similarly, the SIEU executive council also saw more leaders who are younger and PMEs stepping up to helm leadership positions.
2013 – The Constitutional Amendment & SIEU’s 4th
SIEU made its landmark constitutional amendment to provide for leadership renewal in the Exco and delegates. It provided that those reaching the age of 62 would step down and make way for younger leaders to step up. This was following NTUC’s 3-Flow Framework (3F). The only exception was those reaching 62 of age in the term of office (2013 – 2017) could finish the term. Despite the exception, Bro Willie Tan made way and Bro Luke Hee was elected as the General Secretary at the union’s Quadrennial Delegates Conference (QDC) on January 10, 2013.
At the same QDC, Sister Jennifer Yap was elected as the 1st Vice President and came on fulltime secondment. As part of the 3F plan for renewal, she would succeed Bro Terry as President when he reached age 62 according to constitution. Sis Jennifer was the union’s Treasurer for more than 20 years.
2013 – The Lawsuit
SIEU successfully defended itself at the High Court against a lawsuit by unhappy Financial Advisers (FA) from NTUC Income. It arose out of a perceived loss of terms and benefits when NTUC Income decided to categorise FAs as self-employed instead of being ambiguous if they were employees or not.