Starting from this May Day, it became an annual affair that the Labour Minister will announce the decision of the government with respect to the National Wages Council's recommendations for the year.
Trade unions evolved from one of mere concern with traditional collective bargaining to involvement in other socio-economic areas designed to further improve the welfare of our workers.
The duty of the Government and the NTUC is to create a series of overlapping and reinforcing organic links through which every worker identifies himself directly with the building of our young nation of which he is a part".
Mr Lim Chee Onn, then Secretary-General of NTUC, considered May Day 1980 as a significant milestone in the history of Singapore’s labour movement’s development for two reasons.
Firstly, it marked the beginning of a national effort to transform the country’s labour-intensive economy to one driven by middle-technology industries and a high-skilled labour force.
Devan Nair, then President of NTUC, considered this May Day as an occasion to rally the Singapore youth, intensify their stake in the future of the nation and give them an appreciation of the basic social, economic and political priorities of the Republic.
In 1984, Ong Teng Cheong, Secretary-General of NTUC, called for a redefinition of the role of trade unions and the adoption of new concepts to strengthen the cohesiveness of workers in the company to raise productivity.
In his message, Ong stated that tripartite cooperation has helped to achieve a standard of living for the people of Singapore rivalled by few in the Asian region.
He called for the resolve to put the true spirit of tripartite cooperation between labour, management and the government to the test through the economic recession.