NTUC is conferring the May Day Awards 2020 on 105 individuals for being exemplary in advancing workers’ interests and are role models themselves. This follows NTUC’s previous announcement on 29 organisations being recognised for their contributions in improving workers’ wages, welfare and work prospects on 16 May.
50 union leaders, 42 Labour Movement and tripartite partners as well as 13 workers are being honoured for their efforts in improving workers’ wages, welfare and work prospects.
Union leaders: Going the extra mile for workers
Three former NTUC Central Committee members have been awarded with the Comrade of Labour (Star) (Bar) accolade, which is the highest award category conferred on unionists this year.
a. Karthikeyan Krishnamurthy, Executive Secretary, United Workers Of Petroleum Industry
As a unionist for 34 years, Brother Karthikeyan always does his best to ensure that workers of all levels have equal working terms and conditions stipulated in the Collective Agreements (CA) between the union and the company. He pushes for fair compensation for all workers; similar annual wage increments across all salary grades in the company; and that all workers enjoy the fruits of labour when the company performs well via the implementation of performance base wage and performance bonus schemes.
b. Tan Hock Soon, General Secretary, Food, Drinks & Allied Workers Union (FDAWU)
Brother Hock Soon has been active in union work for 35 years. Among the key highlights of his union role includes how he helped to save workers’ jobs during the last two economic downturns, as he worked closely with both management and workers to cut costs and save jobs. Particularly during the global economic crisis in 2008, Brother Hock Soon took the extra step to mobilise training providers to offer horizontal and vertical skills training for workers via the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR) programme.
c. Toh Hock Poh, Consultant, Metal Industries Workers Union
Brother Hock Poh has dedicated 41 years of distinguished service to the union and the Labour Movement. Through various economic crises, he called for employers to be fair to workers, senior management to lead by example by taking earlier and deeper wage cuts than rank-and-file workers, and to implement other cost cutting measures before resorting to retrenchment.
Other outstanding unionists have also been conferred the May Day Awards for their efforts in safeguarding workers’ welfare and improving their wages and work prospects. They include Comrade of Labour (Star) recipient Brother G. Rajendran, President, Chemical Industries Employees' Union; Comrade of Labour recipients Brother Adrian Christopher Gair, Committee Member, Singapore Industrial & Services Employee’s Union; Sister Cheang Li Ling Assistant General Secretary, Building Construction And Timber Industries Employees' Union; Brother Mustafa Lambak, Assistant General Secretary, FDAWU; Brother Phua Tiong Koon, 2nd Assistant General Treasurer, Singapore Port Workers’ Union and Sister Sukartini Binti Mohd Mawar, General Treasurer, United Workers of Electronics & Electrical Industries (UWEEI). Details of selected awardees are available in Annex B.
Tripartite partners and members of Labour Movement playing crucial role
The May Day Awards are also conferred on management, tripartite partners and members of the Labour Movement family who advance the interests of workers. These include Meritorious Service recipient Brother Kuah Boon Wee, Chairman of NTUC LearningHub; Medal of Commendation (Gold) recipient Mr Seah Moon Ming, Chairman of SMRT Corporation Ltd and Medal of Commendation recipient Goh Choon Phong, Chief Executive Officer, Singapore Airlines.
Outstanding workers setting a good example
The Model Worker award is conferred on outstanding workers who exemplify Worker 4.0, displaying the traits of Ready, Relevant and Resilient by improving their jobs through adopting or initiating productivity improvements and their employability through upskilling and digital transformation related training as well as being adaptable to changing work environment. Recipients include:
a. Lee Chia Seah, Jasmine, Senior Supplier Quality Engineer
Sister Jasmine sees life-long learning and upgrading as important components of her career. As a mother of two young children whose husband is often overseas for work, she effectively juggles between her work and family commitments, while still finding the time to continually upgrade herself. As a UWEEI branch official, she leads by example, serving as an exemplary role model to her peers and colleagues at Kulicke & Soffa by influencing them to join her in her pursuit of lifelong learning.
b. Zaffar Ali Khan Sulaiman Khan, Operations Manager
Having served actively in security firm Aetos for almost two decades, Brother Zaffar rose through the ranks to become an Operations Manager, and made valuable contributions over the past 15 years as a unionist with the Union of Security Employees (USE). At 64 years of age, he has been an exemplary worker representative and actively checks on workers’ rights and entitlements with USE so he can best advise his fellow workers and company management. He is also an active advocate of lifelong learning, and continuously seeks to upskill himself through Industrial Relations and employment related courses whilst juggling work and family commitments.
Lauding the awardees for their dedication, NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng said, “The 105 individuals have displayed passion and commitment in caring for fellow workers, going the extra mile to ensure workers are protected and are able to rise up to challenges in today’s digital world. Among them are veteran union leaders that have dedicated decades of service to the Labour Movement and have made a real difference to the lives of workers around them. I am certain that they will continue to advance workers’ interests to the best of their abilities, especially in such challenging times.”
Full citations of MDA 2020 individual awardees are available at www.ntuc.org.sg/MayDayAwards2020.
Read our May Day Awards 2020 e-magazine here.
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Annex A: List of May Day Awards 2020 individual awardees
Annex B: Citations of selected awardees
Note to editors:
NTUC will make a final announcement for May Day Awards 2020 in end May, kindly look out for it.
