Tripartism in the context of "Nordic model"

The International Labour Organization (ILO), a tripartite specialized agency of the United Nations that sets international standards related to work, has 187 member states, as of February 2025. Established in 1919 as a result of the Treaty of Versailles, the ILO was the first agency to be incorporated into the UN in 1946, is the third oldest pre-existing UN agency, the fourth oldest existing multilateral organization and the only remaining organization with direct links to the League of Nations.

The organization was established with 42 states, of which 29 states are considered founder members as signatories to the Versailles Treaty; another 13 states, not signatories, were invited to be members and granted status as founder members.

The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) spearheads the labour movement of Singapore, which represents almost a million workers in the country across more than 70 unions, affiliated associations and related organisations. Singapore runs on a tripartism model which aims to offer competitive advantages for the country by promoting economic competitiveness, harmonious government-labour-management relations and the overall progress of the nation.

NTUC, along with its tripartite partners, the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) and Ministry of Manpower (MOM), work together to tackle issues such as job re-creation, raising the effective retirement age, skills training and upgrading of the workforce, promotion of fair and progressive employment practices, and a flexible wage system, among other labour-related issues.

Social corporatism, occasionally referred to as social democratic corporatism or liberal corporatism, is a form of economic tripartite corporatism based upon a social partnership between the interests of capital and labour, involving collective bargaining between representatives of employers and of labour mediated by the government at the national level. Social corporatism is present to a lesser degree in the Western European social market economies. It is considered a compromise to regulate the conflict between capital and labour by mandating them to engage in mutual consultations that are mediated by the government.

Generally supported by nationalist and/or social-democratic political parties, social corporatism developed in the post-World War II period, influenced by Christian democrats and social democrats in Western European countries such as Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Social corporatism has also been adopted in different configurations and to varying degrees in various Western European countries.

The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), also known as the Singapore National Trades Union Congress (SNTUC) internationally, is the sole national trade union centre in Singapore. NTUC leads the labour movement of Singapore, comprising 59 affiliated trade unions, 5 affiliated trade associations, 6 social enterprises, 6 related organisations and other enterprise partners.

The NTUC helms May Day celebrations and organises an annual rally in support of workers' solidarity and commitment to a tripartite partnership. Since its inception, the NTUC has had a close symbiotic relationship with the People's Action Party (PAP), the current ruling political party of the country.