The Singapore Federation of Trade Unions was a

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

centre in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. It was founded in October 1945 as the Singapore General Labour Union on the initiative of the Malayan Communist Party. SGLU was the first unit of the Malayan General Labour Union, which expanded throughout Malaya.Sandhu, Kernial Singh, and Paul Wheatley.
Management of Success: The Moulding of Modern Singapore
'. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1989. pp. 144-145 SGLU was reconstituted as SFTU in August 1946, as the Malayan General Labour Union was divided into the SFTU and the Pan-Malayan Federation of Trade Unions.
Political Development of Singapore, 1945-1955
', p. 217 Politically, SFTU was tied to the Malayan Communist Party. The SFTU Central Executive Committee was dominated by Chinese MCP cadres. However, SFTU was able to recruit non-communist anti-colonial labour unionists amongst the Indian community. For example, SFTU vice president P. Veerasenan and leader of the Singapore Harbour Board Labour Union was a prominent Indian non-communist union leader. SFTU had virtually no presence amongst the Malay community. By mid-1947, SFTU counted with 72 affiliated unions, out of a total of 126 unions in Singapore. The total membership of SFTU-affiliated unions stood at above 56,000. In 1948, the tactics of SFTU changed. SFTU initiated a number of strikes, including a

general strike A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large co ...

on 23 April 1948. These measures largely backfired, and after a call for mobilisations for 1 May 1948 the British authorities declared Emergency and clamped down heavily on SFTU. After the ban on the Malayan Communist Party in June 1948, many SFTU unions were dissolved. SFTU was deregistered by the British authorities in December 1948.Barr, Michael D., and Carl A. Trocki.
Paths Not Taken: Political Pluralism in Post-War Singapore
'. Singapore: NUS Press, 2008. p. 210

References

{{Authority control Trade unions in Singapore Communism in Singapore Trade unions established in 1945 Trade unions disestablished in 1948