ESU has worked at negotiating with NUS for an agreement to convert contract staff on term contract with good performance to open contract. This would translate into better career paths for more than 300 employees.

The negotiations that began in 2007 bore fruit as when the ESU and NUS signed a Memorandum of Agreement on 6 November 2008.

Employees will be eligible for conversion when their contract appointment is fully funded by NUS and that their performance is satisfactory in 2007 and 2008. They must also not be re-employed beyond the legislated retirement age of 62.

Strong labour-management relations between ESU and NUS have made ways for these benefits for the employees.

"The signing of this Memorandum of Agreement marks another significant milestone in our long-standing partnership with ESU. We believe that this is an effective strategy to recruit and retain good employees and further enhance NUS’s positioning as an employer of choice. This is a win-win-win for our staff, NUS and ESU,” said Mr Daniel Cho, Vice-President (Human Resources) of NUS."

"This agreement will serve as a good retention policy for NUS. The job security with this conversion will keep our good staff with the company. They will also be encouraged with opportunities for career development. ESU is committed to continue to assist our No Collar members in achieving job security and career enhancements," said ESU President Michael Tan.

"This placement exercise has helped NUS in achieving its objective of retaining good staff. It is a collective effort of ESU in embracing No-Collar workers as it reaches out to not only the low-wage contract workers, but also those in the higher income brackets." said NTUC Alignment Director (No Collar) and ESU Executive Secretary Zainuldin Nordin.

Full details of the report can be accessed at NTUC This Week, a weekly newspaper from NTUC.