Yeo Wan Ling: Ensuring a fair transition for Singapore land transport workers amid technology-driven change

Autonomous shuttle rides are already in Punggol, while self-driving buses will be hitting the roads in Shenton Way and one-north later this year.

No one can say with certainty how automation will reshape the transport sector. But one thing is clear: NTUC is committed to working with the Government and employers to ensure taxi, private-hire and bus drivers are supported, protected and prepared for the transition.

Over the past year, NTUC-affiliated platform work associations and the National Transport Workers’ Union (NTWU) have been gathering feedback from workers likely to be affected by technological advances. Many want to know how they can remain in the industry or move into new roles as transport evolves. Their concerns have been shared with tripartite partners to help shape the land transport worker transition plan.

We spoke to NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Yeo Wan Ling about how the Labour Movement plans to work closely with workers to redesign and create new tech-driven roles, explore proven transformation models for land transport, and partner with the Government and employers for holistic transition support. Ms Yeo is also the NTWU Executive Secretary, and Advisor to both the National Private Hire Vehicles Association (NPHVA) and National Taxi Association (NTA). 

Ms Yeo engaging bus drivers at bus terminal. Photo: Yeo Wan Ling FB

What’s NTUC doing to support land transport workers impacted by the AV rollout?

First, we want to reassure workers that everybody will have access to fair transitions.

Second, we will work on developing real career pathways with companies in the redesign process, ensuring workers are right in the centre of that transformation.

And third, we will also come up with good, living examples of companies and processes that people can see.

The Government needs to come in with support. Companies need to come in with responsible job redesign processes. And workers need to know that upskilling is a very important part of everyday life.

What are your thoughts on the recent point-to-point driver transition package?

The monetary support, which we asked for, was very important. I’m also hoping that as AV or robotics adoption increases, this transition package could also be open to delivery riders as well.

What is the key focus for job redesign now?

I think the first thing we need to look at is: What are the ground realities for our workers?

For example, we thought that bus captains spent 80 per cent of their effort and energy in driving, but they tell us driving is only 20 per cent. The other 80 per cent has to do with dealing with customers

We are thinking that a good career transition for a bus captain is to become a care captain, where he doesn’t drive anymore, but becomes more of a ‘conductor’. If they are already doing customer service 80 per cent of the time, why do we need to retrain them for customer service?

As the industry evolves, will workers continue to have a voice in the redesign process?

I’m very appreciative that NTUC is on many workgroups and committees looking at job redesign.

Livelihoods are at the centre of it when we speak up for workers, but there are also other things like liability and regulation structures. If the safety driver or operator gets injured, who’s going to pay for it? If there’s an accident that occurs, what liability would our workers bear?

These issues are nascent right now, and it is important that unions, PWAs, and workers continue to have representation on these, and our workers feel represented by them.

It is also important that more workers join the Labour Movement as members, so that we can speak up for them. They understand the issues on the ground, and we can bring these up at discussions.

What are some of the new or redesigned roles workers can expect?

When we look at the job redesign process, we must look at what kind of new jobs come up. And therefore, reimagination is important.

For instance, a remote operator is a person who sits in the office and maybe looks after a fleet of vehicles. Another one that has been also identified are safety operators. In case anything happens, they take over.

There’s also a very good opportunity for our young electric vehicle technicians because there’s a dearth of EV engineers globally. And I think Singapore can create an ecosystem here of a globally desired talent pool for EV-related technicians and engineers.

Some of this reimagination could also be business opportunities — what’s stopping us from creating a cooperative for a group of drivers to co-own a fleet of AV vehicles?

What’s important is that the Labour Movement needs to have a seat at the table for the re-imagination process. For the sake of workers, I think we should be leading it.

What does the future of the industry look like to you?

Our sister organisation, NTUC FairPrice, did a very good job in developing a living, working example of how a supermarket is being transformed by AI.

For instance, they have self-checkout trolleys. They also have sensor systems that alert the store assistant or storekeeper on their phones that a particular shelf’s items need restocking.

What I love is redesigning work with the workers right in the centre of the change.

Because people can now do self-checkout, not that many cashiers are needed. There’s this cashier that I know, whose other role is a bar attendant at the supermarket’s Grocer Bar! All these cashiers also got pay increments. For companies, it is about paying workers more for a greater, more valued role.

I hope that we can duplicate this model for the rest of the industries, including land transport. I'm hoping to have a bus interchange of the future.

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