Middle Road Unions

The term “Middle Road unions” was used in the 1950s and early 1960s to refer to a group of left-wing, predominantly Chinese-speaking worker unions operating out of Middle Road, where some of these trade unions had their headquarters. Middle Road unions were commonly seen as pro-communist, and their leaders were also part of the leadership of the People’s Action Party (PAP).¹

Background
In the 1950s, organised labour was mainly divided into two federations of trade unions – the Singapore Trades Union Congress (STUC) and the Singapore Trade Unions Working Committee (STUWC).² The STUC was a registered body formed in 1951 with the government’s sponsorship, while the STUWC was an unregistered body formed in 1955 to protest against the Public Security Bill.³ The loosely knit STUWC claimed to represent 85,000 workers in 95 unions and was led by leaders of the Middle Road unions.⁴  

At the centre of Middle Road unions were the Singapore Factory and Shop Workers’ Union (SFSWU) and the Singapore Bus Workers’ Union (SBWU), which were respectively led by secretaries-general Lim Chin Siong and Fong Swee Suan.⁵ Lim and Fong were also members of the PAP. Because they were influential trade union leaders, PAP secretary-general Lee Kuan Yew had invited them in the setting up of the party in 1954 to win over the Chinese blue-collared workers, clan associations and trade unions.⁶

“Big Six”
Besides the SFSWU (led by Lim) and the SBWU (led by Fong), the other four major unions were the Singapore General Employees’ Union (headed by Dominic Puthucheary), the Singapore Business Houses Employees’ Union (led by S. T. Bani), the Naval Base Labour Union (headed by Sidney Woodhull) and the Singapore Harbour Board Workers’ Union (led by Jamit Singh).⁷ The leaders of these major unions were known as the “Big Six”, who held important positions such as secretaries-general and advisers in several Middle Road unions and had great influence over them.⁸ Executives of Middle Road unions sometimes held meetings at the SFSWU’s head office.⁹

Social unrest and arrests
The Middle Road unions controlled the unions in many sectors of industry and public services, including public transport systems.¹⁰ They were known for supporting strikes that fought for better benefits and treatment for workers when disagreements between workers and their employers arose.¹¹ Out of 213 strikes that had taken place between April and September 1955, 162 were attributed to the Middle Road unions.¹² Two significant riots in 1950s Singapore were the Hock Lee bus riots in May 1955 and the Chinese Middle Schools riots in October 1956.¹³ Both these riots involved elements from the Middle Road unions. The former started off as a strike by dismissed workers of the Hock Lee Amalgamated Bus Company who picketed the bus depot and disrupted bus services, while the latter started when thousands of Chinese middle school students had sit-ins in their schools to protest against the arrests of student leaders and deregistration of student organisations.¹⁴ Both protests later developed into riots on the streets.¹⁵   

Aftermath of Hock Lee bus riots
As a show of support to the workers in the Hock Lee bus industrial dispute, about 3,000 workers in different industries, many of whom were from the Middle Road unions, participated in a wave of sympathy strikes.¹⁶ Public transportation was crippled as members of the SBWU from other bus companies also stopped work.¹⁷ Both Lim and Fong issued statements and gave speeches in support of the Hock Lee bus workers and Chinese middle school students.¹⁸

The Labour Front government became concerned that the workers and students were instigated to riot as part of communist subversion.¹⁹ Fong was named as a chief instigator of the Hock Lee bus riot and was arrested with several other trade unionists under the Emergency Regulations on 11 June 1955.²⁰ The police also searched the premises of the SFSWU.²¹ After his release, Fong said that he was not a communist.²² In an interview in 2007, Fong claimed that the strike was not instigated by the Malayan Communist Party, but added that there could have been party elements who took advantage of the situation.²³ He admitted responsibility for the strike that preceded the riot, but not for causing the riot.²⁴

Aftermath of Chinese Middle School riots
Following the Chinese Middle School riots, which was supported by the Middle Road union leaders, the police raided the premises of the SFSWU and several Middle Road unions on 27 October 1956.²⁵ Some 295 unionists were arrested under the Preservation of Public Security Ordinance (predecessor of the Internal Security Act), including Lim, Fong, C. V. Devan Nair, Sidney Woodhull and James Puthucheary.²⁶ The SFSWU was also deregistered by the Registrar of Societies in February 1957 on the grounds that it was used “for purposes inconsistent with its objects and rules”.²⁷ The leaders of the Middle Road unions – Lim, Fong, Nair, Woodhull, Puthucheary and two other detainees – were only released from detention following the PAP’s victory in the 1959 election.²⁸ 

After PAP’s split
After their release, Lim and Fong became political secretaries in the newly formed PAP government.²⁹ However, the left-wing PAP members led by Lim and Fong disagreed with Lee’s faction on the issue of merger with Malaysia.³⁰ In 1961, they were expelled from the PAP and formed the Barisan Sosialis, whose support base was the six major trade unions led by the Big Six.³¹

The Internal Security Council launched a security operation known as Operation Coldstore on 2 February 1963, arresting more than 100 leaders and activists of political parties, unions, and rural, educational and cultural organisations.³² These individuals, including Lim, Fong, Woodhull and Dominic Puthucheary, were detained under the Preservation of Public Security Ordinance.³³ The Internal Security Council subsequently released the document “The Communist Conspiracy” to the press on 3 February 1963. The document described “the tactics used by left-wing unionists in Singapore to exploit issues for the Communist cause” and the roles played by various arrested individuals in the plan to “use Singapore as a beach-head from which to mount a continuous political defensive against the Federation”.³⁴

Singapore Association of Trade Unions (SATU)
The split in PAP in 1961 also caused the STUC to split into two groups:³⁵  SATU led by the Big Six, and the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) led by Nair.³⁶

On 7 October 1963, SATU called for a two-day island-wide strike to protest against the deregistration of seven of its biggest union members: the SBWU, the Singapore General Employees’ Union, the Singapore Business House Employees’ Union, the Singapore National Seaman Union, the National Union of Building Construction Workers, the Singapore Brick-making Workers’ Union, and the Singapore Machine and Engineering Employees’ Union.³⁷ The following day, the police arrested SATU president S.T. Bani and many other officials under the Preservation of Public Security Ordinance, to prevent a “repetition of the bloody riots of 1955 and 1956”.³⁸ On 30 October 1963, the seven unions were deregistered for engaging in activities that were “inconsistent with their objects and rules”.³⁹ 

SATU was refused registration on 13 November 1963, on the grounds that it had been used for “unlawful purposes and purposes inconsistent with its objects and rules”.⁴⁰ With the dissolution of SATU, the NTUC became the leading federation of trade unions in Singapore. The NTUC was officially registered in January 1964.⁴¹



Author
Lee Meiyu



References
1. Justin Corfield, Historical Dictionary of Singapore (Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2011), 177 (Call no. RSING 959.57003 COR-[HIS]); John Drysdale, Singapore, Struggle for Success (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2009), 81 (Call no. RSING 959.57 DRY-[HIS]). The term “Middle Road unions” first appeared in the newspaper article, “Unions: Basic Wage Is All We Want” (Straits Times, 18 August 1955, 7). The article reported that a group of 16 labour unions signed a memorandum and identified themselves as the “Middle Road Unions” under the leadership of the People’s Action Party assemblyman, Lim Chin Siong.
2. “Unions in Colony Agree at Last,” Straits Times, 3 March 1956, 1; “Workers Back M-Mission,” Straits Times, 19 March 1956, 4; “Middle Road Men Woo Rivals,” Straits Times, 12 December 1955, 4. (From NewspaperSG)
3. Singapore Labour Department, Annual Report of the Ministry of Labour 1954 (Singapore: Government Printing Office, 1955), 90 (Call no. RCLOS 331 SIN); “Jamit Wants to Take on Marshall Now,” Straits Times, 11 October 1955, 6. (From NewspaperSG)
4. “Snub for the Middle Road Crowd,” Straits Budget, 17 November 1955, 7 (From NewspaperSG); Singapore Legislative Assembly, The Communist Threat in Singapore (Sessional Paper, No. Cmd. 33 of 1957) (Singapore: Government Printing Office, 1957), 5 (Call no. RCLOS 321.642 SIN)
5. Corfield, Historical Dictionary of Singapore, 177; John Drysdale, Struggle for Success, 81.
6. Hussin Mutalib, Parties and Politics: A Study of Opposition Parties and the PAP in Singapore (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Academic, 2005), 61 (Call no. RSING 324.25957 HUS); Lee Kuan Yew, The Singapore Story: Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew (Singapore: Times Editions: Singapore Press Holdings, 1998), 178–79. (Call no. RSING 959.57 LEE-[HIS])
7. The last known memberships of the six major unions can be obtained from the annual reports of the Singapore Labour Department (Call no. RCLOS 331 SIN) in the respective deregistration year of the unions. The details are as follows: Singapore Factory and Shop Workers’ Union (deregistered in 1957; 29,959 members); Singapore Bus Workers’ Union (deregistered in 1963; 2,263 members); Singapore General Employees’ Union (deregistered in 1963; 25,546 members); Singapore Business Houses Employees’ Union (deregistered in 1963; 6,091 members); Singapore Habour Board Workers’ Union (deregistered in 1958; 4,914 members); Naval Base Labour Union (deregistered in 1971; 1,000 members). Shortly before the arrest of Woodhull, the Naval Base Labour Union was reported in newspaper as having 10,000 members in 1962. (“Realistic View of Bases by Woodhull”,Straits Budget, 16 May 1962, 17). Carl A. Trocki, Singapore: Wealth, Power and the Culture of Control (New York: Routledge, 2006), 109 (Call no. RSING 959.5705 TRO-[HIS]); Felix Abisheganaden, “107 Held in Singapore Dawn Drive,” Straits Times, 3 February 1963, 1. (From NewspaperSG)
8. Trocki, Singapore: Wealth, Power and the Culture of Control, 109; Abisheganaden, “107 Held in Singapore Dawn Drive.”
9. Lim-Ng Bee Eng, comp., Chronology of Trade Union Development in Singapore 1940–1986. (Singapore: Singapore National Trades Union Congress, 1987), 9. (Call no. RCLOS 331.88095957 CHR); Richard Clutterbuck,Conflict and Violence in Singapore and Malaysia 1945–1983 (Singapore: G. Brash, 1984), 99–100. (Call no. RSING 959.57 CLU-[HIS])
10. Clutterbuck, Conflict and Violence, 99–100; Noeleen Heyzer and Wee Gek Sim, Trade Union Leaders in Singapore (Singapore: University of Singapore Department of Sociology, 1972), 2. (Call no. RSING 301.444 HEY)
11. Clutterbuck, Conflict and Violence, 99–100; Heyzer and Wee, Trade Union Leaders in Singapore, 2.
12. Clutterbuck, Conflict and Violence, 99–100; Heyzer and Wee, Trade Union Leaders in Singapore, 2.
13. Clutterbuck, Conflict and Violence, 84, 121.
14. Clutterbuck, Conflict and Violence, 84, 121.
15. Clutterbuck, Conflict and Violence, 84, 121.
16. “Strikes Cause $2M Losses,” Singapore Standard, 16 May 1955, 3. (From NewspaperSG)
17. Strikes Cause $2M Losses.”
18. Tan Jing Quee and Jomo K. S, eds., Comet in Our Sky (Malaysia: Strategic Information and Research Development Centre, 2015), 73 (Call no. RSING 959.5 COM); “This Is Union Crisis Day in Singapore,” Straits Times, 1 May 1955, 1 (From NewspaperSG); Lee Ting Hui, The Open United Front: The Communist Struggle in Singapore 1954–1966 (Singapore: South Seas Society, 1996), 129. (Call no. RSING 959.5703 LEE)
19. Legislative Assembly of Singapore, Emergency (Amendment No. 2) Regulations 1955, vol. 1 of Parliamentary Debates: Official Report, 16 May 1955, cols. 187–88, 191, 193–94, 283.
20. Legislative Assembly of Singapore, Emergency (Amendment No. 2) Regulations 1955, cols. 187–88, 191, 193–94, 283.
21. “Red Documents Seized,” Straits Times, 13 June 1955, 1. (From NewspaperSG)
22. “I’m No Red: Fong,” Straits Times, 27 July 1955, 1. (From NewspaperSG)
23. “1955 Nian fuli bashi gongchao ‘zhumoub’ fang shui shuang jiemi xin” 1955年福利巴士工潮 ‘主谋’方水双揭秘辛 [Fong Swee Suan reveals truth behind the 1955 Hock Lee bus riots], Lianhe Zaobao 联合早报, 26 April 2007, 13. (From NewspaperSG) Lee Ting Hui offered a different assessment in The Open United Front (Singapore: South Seas Society, 1996), 80–83. Lee wrote: “The Hock Lee dispute involved the communists and the management of the bus company which had a Kuomintang background…. The management of Hock Lee responded forcefully to the challenge of the communists…. The Hock Lee incident was a serious confrontation between the communist movement and its opponents”.
24. Fong Swee Suan方水双, Fang shui shuang huiyilu方水双回忆录 [Memoirs of Fong Swee Suan] (Johor Bahru: Published by Todd Books, Johor Bahru, 2007), 66. (Call no. Chinese RSEA 959.5704 FSS-[HIS]).
25. “Dawn Raid Ropes in Lim Chin Siong, Nair and Company,” Sunday Standard, 28 October 1956, 1; “Still Danger but Controls Will Be Eased,” Straits Times, 1 November 1956, 9; “Chief Minister: ‘First Task to Restore Order – Do Nothing to Impede It’,” Straits Times, 28 October 1956, 1. (From NewspaperSG)
26. “Dawn Raid Ropes in Lim Chin Siong, Nair and Company”; “Still Danger but Controls Will Be Eased”; “Chief Minister: ‘First Task to Restore Order – Do Nothing to Impede It’.”
27.“Dissolved Union May Decide to Appeal,” Straits Times, 4 March 1957, 4. (From NewspaperSG)
28. “8 PAP Men Go Free,” Straits Times, 3 June 1959, 1. (From NewspaperSG)
29. “6 Govt Leaders to Speak at Union Meeting,” Singapore Free Press, 6 November 1959, 1. (From NewspaperSG)
30. “Merger Issue: Dr Toh Hits Out at Six Top Unionists,” Straits Times, 10 July 1961, 1; A. Mahadeva, “PAP Dissidents Name New Party ‘Barisan Socialis’,” [sic] Straits Times, 30 July 1961, 4. (From NewspaperSG)
31. “Merger Issue: Dr Toh Hits Out at Six Top Unionists”; Mahadeva, “PAP Dissidents.”
32. Ee Boon Lee and Lim Beng Tee, “Who’s Who in the Big Round-Up,” Straits Times, 6 February 1963, 10; Abisheganaden, “107 Held in Singapore Dawn Drive.”
33. Ee and Lim, “Who’s Who in the Big Round-Up”;Abisheganaden, “107 Held in Singapore Dawn Drive.”
34. Internal Security Council, Singapore, Statement, Legislative Assembly, Misc. 2 of 1963 (Singapore: Govt. Print. Off., 1963), 1–6. (Call no. RCLOS 351.75 SIN); “The Big Red Communist Plot,” Straits Times, 4 February 1963, 1. The document “The Communist Conspiracy” can be viewed at the National Archives Singapore (Title: CO 1030/1573: Singapore Internal Security Council. Part A. Secret).
35. “Now a Split in T.U.C.,” Straits Times, 18 July 1961, 1. (From NewspaperSG)
36. “SATU – the TUC Successor,” Straits Times, 17 August 1961, 6; “Nair Leads Congress,” Straits Times, 8 September 1962, 1. (From NewspaperSG)
37. “SATU’s Threat to S’pore Govt: We Will Call for Mass Action,” Straits Times, 7 October 1963, 11. (From NewspaperSG)
38. “Arrests Made ‘To Foil Repeat of Riots’,” Straits Times, 9 October 1963, 1. (From NewspaperSG)
39. Jackie Sam, “Move against 7 Unions: Registrar Tells Why,” Straits Times, 30 August 1963, 20; “No-Union 60,000: Three Choices,” Straits Times, 2 November 1963, 6. (From NewspaperSG)
40. “Govt Says ‘No’ to SATU Bid for Federation,” Straits Times, 14 November 1963, 4. (From NewspaperSG)
41. “NTUC Again Applies for Registration,” Straits Times, 13 December 1963, 10. (From NewspaperSG); Singapore Labour Department, Annual Report of the Ministry of Labour 1964 (Singapore: Government Printing Office, 1965), 158 (Call no. RCLOS 331 SIN)  



The information in this article is valid as of November 2022 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.