The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) is proud that Ms Jean See Jinli, Director of NTUC Freelancers and Self-Employed (U FSE) Unit has been appointed by the Special Select Committee of Parliament as one of the nine Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs). Ms See, 42 years old, is the Director of NTUC Freelancers and Self-Employed (U FSE) Unit. She is also the Executive Secretary of NTUC-affiliated associations – the National Delivery Champions Association (NDCA), National Instructors and Coaches Association (NICA) and Visual, Audio, Creative Content Professionals Association (Singapore) (VICPA).
Ms See first joined the Industrial Relations Department of NTUC as a Management Executive in October 2003, and was an Industrial Relations Officer of the Metal Industries Workers’ Union (renamed as Advanced Manufacturing Employees’ Union now) in April 2004. In May 2007, Ms See was the Head of Industrial Relations in the Education Services Union (ESU) and was the union’s Assistant Executive Secretary from 2011 to 2015. From July 2014, she was concurrently the Assistant Director of NTUC U FSE. In October 2015, Ms See was also the Deputy Executive Secretary of the Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union (FDAWU) till March 2020. She was the Executive Secretary of the National Private Hire Vehicles Association from April 2020 to July 2022; and Executive Secretary of the National Taxi Association from July 2022 to June 2023. Over the years, Ms See rose through the ranks to the position of Director of NTUC U FSE, and concurrently holds the position of Executive Secretary of NDCA, NICA and VICPA.
As a leader who is passionate in empowering and enabling workers, Ms See initiated and co-implemented initiatives to boost the professionalism and recognition of early childhood educators during her stint at ESU. In her leadership capacity at FDAWU, together with her team, Ms See conceptualised and launched a micro-learning training network with over 22 stakeholders for over 30,000 hospitality workers. This positioned NTUC and the unions as pacesetters for workplace learning, which placed the unions in good stead to facilitate training during the pandemic.
As NTUC Director championing the interests of FSEs, Ms See and her team work closely with stakeholders to co-create viable and sustainable livelihoods for this growing group of workers. Ms See pioneered strategies that enabled NTUC and affiliated associations to quickly establish ourselves as a strong voice for the freelancers and SEP community, particularly in the areas of protection, income security, welfare and training. As the Labour Movement representative in tripartite setups, Ms See also contributed extensively to the Tripartite Recommendations for SEPs in 2018 and the recommendations for platform workers under the Advisory Committee on Platform Workers in 2022.
Ms See would be the 14th Labour Movement representative since 1992 to be appointment as an NMP. Please see Annex A for more information on Ms See, and Annex B for the list of former NMPs from the Labour Movement.
Ms See’s Response to NTUC’s Nomination as Labour NMP
In response to being appointed as Nominated Member of Parliament, Ms See shares, “I am honoured to be appointed as a Labour Nominated Member of Parliament and be the voice for our workers in Parliament. I will strive to speak up for the self-employed community and prioritise their concerns in my speeches in Parliament. Some of our freelancers and self-employed persons’ concerns, which were especially more evident during the pandemic, include fair terms and payment for work done, workplace safety, training opportunities, the move towards digitalisation, as well as a more holistic ecosystem of protection and support for platform workers. By working closely with tripartite partners and stakeholders, I will endeavour to make meaningful contributions to parliamentary discussions based on insights from our workers, towards uplifting their lives and livelihoods.”
NTUC President Mary Liew’s Response on Ms Jean See as Labour NMP
NTUC President Mary Liew said, “With a heart for workers and years of experience in various unions and associations, Sister Jean constantly listens to ground concerns and speaks up for them. We have confidence that she will do her best to be a strong voice for our workers, especially the growing group of freelancers and self-employed persons. Her contributions in Parliament will be helpful in shaping policies that would secure better protection and sustainability for the freelancers and self-employed community. We believe that she will continue to build on the positive tripartite relationship and strive for outcomes that will bode well for workers, employers, industry players and Singapore.”
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