SINGAPORE: Members of the Workers’ Party (WP) attended the People’s Labour Day Rally 2025 at Hong Lim Park on Sunday afternoon (May 25). This year’s rally was a few weeks late due to the General Election earlier this month and was attended by several hundred people.
Among them were WP Members of Parliament (MPs) Dennis Tan (Hougang Single Member Constituency [SMC]) and Jamus Lim (Sengkang Group Representation Constituency [GRC]), along with new WP MPs Fadli Fawzi and Kenneth Tiong (Aljunied GRC). Jeraldine Pneah, who has been part of the WP for some time, was also present.
Other opposition figures, including Singapore Democratic Party chief Chee Soon Juan and chair Paul Tambyah, were among the attendees, as well as Ariffin Sha, who had contested under the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) banner in the May 3 polls and who was one of the speakers at the rally. Progress Singapore Party’s (PSP) Stephanie Tan was spotted as well.
Many groups were also represented at the gathering, including Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME), SG Riders, and Transformative Justice Collective (TJC).
The rally was organised by the workers’ rights group Workers Made Possible, a group of volunteers who started out supporting bus drivers and conducting research, writing, campaigning and public education regarding various labour issues in Singapore.
In his speech, Mr Sha shone a light on the achievements of food delivery riders, who had successfully worked together to produce the Platform Workers’ Bill.
“Remember this day, the 25th of May… Today will be the new dawn for the independent labour movement in Singapore,” he said, inviting attendees to join Workers Made Possible’s endeavors.
“I want you to remember the power that we workers have in our hands,” he added, leading everyone to shout “achamillai,” which means “have no fear.”
Although it has been customary for the WP to release a statement on Labour Day, Secretary-General Pritam Singh did not do so this year, in all likelihood due to the WP just having released its Manifesto for this year, and the WP held a rally on the evening of May 1.
As a recap, here are the different aspects of labour in Singapore that the WP has highlighted.
In 2019, the WP’s message focused on the needs of professionals, managers, executives, and technicians (PMETs), especially older ones who have recently faced “a myriad of challenges.”
In 2021, it repeated its call for a sector-wide minimum wage of S$1,300 per month to be imposed in Singapore, which would help everyone make ends meet.
A year later, the WP focused on the sandwiched class, those who take care of children and elders simultaneously amid rising living costs. In 2023, Mr Singh’s message revolved around the need for redundancy insurance and leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) for the sake of Singapore’s workers.
Last year, the WP noted that “change is on the horizon,” noting the challenges Singapore and Singaporeans are facing—including increased global tensions, high costs of living and doing business, the need to protect workers—at a time when the prime ministership was about to be handed over. /TISG
Read also: Workers’ Party May Day Statement: Change is on the horizon