page_title: Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act (Singapore)
section_title: Illegal strikes and lock-outs in essential services
hierarchical_section_title: Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act (Singapore) / Content / Illegal strikes and lock-outs in essential services
caption_attribution_description: The strike of FarEast Spinnery, May 1989, Taiwan
context_page_description: The Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act is a Singapore statute that, among other things, allows the executive branch of the Government of Singapore to order that suspected criminals be detained without trial. It was introduced in 1955 during the colonial era and intended to be a temporary measure, but has been renewed continuously. The validity of the Act was most recently extended in February 2018, and it will remain in force till October 2024. According to the Government, the Act is only used as a last resort when a serious crime has been committed and a court prosecution is not possible because witnesses are unwilling or afraid to testify in court. The Act is used largely in cases relating to secret societies, drug trafficking and loansharking.
context_section_description: Part III of the CLPTA deals with illegal strikes and lock-outs in essential services. Section 5 of the Act defines a strike as "the cessation of work by a body of persons employed in any essential service acting in combination, or a concerted refusal or a refusal under a common understanding of a number of persons who are or who have been so employed to continue to work or to accept employment", and a lock-out as "the closing of a place of employment or the suspension of work, or the refusal by an employer to continue to employ any number of persons employed by him in consequence of a trade dispute, done with a view to compelling those persons, or to aid another employer in compelling persons employed by him, to accept terms or conditions of or affecting employment". Essential services are any services, businesses, trades, undertakings, manufactures or callings included in Part I of the First Schedule to the Act, namely:
  Banking services, including services relating to transactions in securities and futures contracts.
  Broadcasting services.
  Bulk distribution of fuel and lubricants.
  Civil defence services provided by the Singapore Civil Defence Force.
  Clearing and settlement services relating to transactions in securities and futures contracts and transactions in the banking system.
  Drug enforcement services provided by the Central Narcotics Bureau.
  Electricity and gas services.
  Fire services, including rescue and fire-fighting services provided by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore.
  Information services and undertakings provided by the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts and its agencies.
  Information technology services to support the processing of applications for permits for the import, export and transshipment of goods.
  Newspaper services.
  Pollution control and environmental monitoring and assessment services provided by the National Environment Agency. 
  Port, dock and harbour services and undertakings including services relating to the tracking and safe navigation of vessels in the territorial waters of Singapore and marine services and facilities and port services and facilities as defined in the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore Act (Cap. 170A).
  Postal and telecommunication services and undertakings.
  Prison services.
  Private and public health services, including services relating to the collection of blood for the use of hospitals and the pharmaceutical services.
  Public transport and air transport services, including ground handling services.
  Refuse or waste collection services provided by any public waste collector licensee licensed under the Environmental Public Health Act (Cap. 95).
  Services provided by the Air Traffic Controllers and the Operations and Licensing Assistants of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore.
  Services provided by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.
  Services relating to dealings in securities, trading in futures contracts and leveraged foreign exchange trading provided by the holder of a capital markets services licence under the Securities and Futures Act (Cap. 289).
  Sewerage and waste water treatment services.
  Veterinary public health services provided by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority, including the inspection of primary food (meat and meat product, fish and fish product, egg, raw milk, fruit and vegetable) at the point of import and before distribution to retail.
  Water reclamation services.
  Water services.
  Weather information provided by the Meteorological Services Division of the National Environment Agency.
  The following undertakings performed for the Singapore Armed Forces:
  the construction, maintenance and repair of military installations;
  the design, development, production, manufacture, supply, transport, delivery, repair and maintenance of weapon systems (including military aircraft, ships, submarines and vehicles, arms, explosives, computer hardware and software and other military equipment) and spares and components thereof;
  the land, air and sea transportation of military personnel and equipment;
  the management and operation of
caption: Workers seated on the ground during a strike
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