In the dark

Observers, however, note that some company bosses may have their hands tied when it comes to how much they can tell unions.

One reason: They may not be privy to decisions made by their overseas headquarters.

They also worry that adverse news could be leaked and affect prices if the company is listed on the stock exchange.

While local banks are listed and may have such concerns, Singapore Bank Employees' Union general secretary Bobby Tay argues that historically, this has not impeded them from letting unions in early on important developments.

'We've been handling retrenchments since the 1980s,' says Mr Tay, whose union represents employees in 36 banks - excluding DBS, which has an in-house union.

'We've never encountered a single case of an employer announcing retrenchment first, and the union comes to know about it second.'

OCBC's head of group corporate communications Koh Ching Ching agrees: 'For major decisions concerning employees, we will engage the union.'

But longstanding trust may not hold up indefinitely given that top management and union leaders may change.

And in today's volatile business environment where cycles have become shortened, business conditions may get so bad that management feels it must take swift and decisive action.

One solution to coping with such pressures is to have it spelt out in collective agreements that unions have to be told of layoffs - say a month in advance - in writing.

The Singapore Manual and Mercantile Workers' Union (SMMWU) - the country's largest union representing 82,000 workers in industries from department stores and trading houses to private hospitals and foreign airlines - has such an agreement.

SMMWU assistant secretary-general Joseph Chua says the advance notice gives the union time to scrutinise the list of people to be laid off, and make recommendations.

'Sometimes the person could be the sole breadwinner, so we'll tell the company. Or we may discuss if there is another lower salary position where we can fit him in.'

Bank unions do not have such a clause in their collective agreements. The closest is a clause requiring the union to be told in advance of changes to working hours.

Recent developments suggest that a clause on giving unions advance notice about layoffs may have to be more widely considered - even if an environment of open communication and trust already underpins management-union ties.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on November 16, 2008.