The NTUC is a national federation of trade unions of workers in the industrial, service and public sectors. As of 2008, it has 62 trade unions and 7 associations affiliated to it.

The NTUC Family includes 9 co-operatives, and 6 affiliated organizations - the Singapore Labour Foundation, NTUC Club, NTUC Link, the Ong Teng Cheong Institute of Labour Studies, NTUC LearningHub, and the Consumers' Association of Singapore, and the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i).

There are three tiers of union leadership, all elected by secret ballot. Workers in a company elect their branch leaders. The next layer is the executive committee of a union. Officials from the executive committee are drawn from the branches. At the national level, there is the Central Committee of the NTUC. The 21-member Central Committee is elected every four years.

The NTUC has an Administration and Research Unit (ARU) to carry out day-to-day work. Within the ARU, the Secretary-General functions as the Director-General.