Strong labour-management relations in his day job as a senior service engineer at ST Aerospace Systems Pte Ltd has allowed Singapore Industrial & Services Employees’ Union (SISEU) General Treasurer and NTUC Central Committee member Philip Lee, 59, to grow as a unionist.
NTUC This Week: You are one of SISEU’s senior leaders. How did you get so involved?
Philip Lee: I was roped in by a good friend who was a union branch chairman to join the now defunct Singapore Air Transport-Workers’ Union (SATU) when I was a young apprentice in one of the SIA companies in the 1980s.
When he left and joined an American company, he got me to join him there. Unfortunately, this company was notoriously anti-union and terminated my good friend’s employment because they thought he was trying to unionise the company. They even had a ‘union buster’ to prevent any union activities.
I felt strongly that it was wrong to get rid of people because of that and it was not the way to treat workers. Realising that the company would be after me next, I also left the company. After I joined ST Aerospace and became a SISEU member, I was asked to stand in the branch elections when I became branch treasurer and eventually branch chairman. When I was asked to be a SISEU Executive Committee (exco) member, I was taken aback as the exco was something new to me and quite a big word. But I agreed to try and became an exco member.
How did the union help you grow as a person?
I started out as an ordinary member in 1990 and today I am general treasurer because of opportunities I received from the union and my employers. Being an exco member takes up a lot of time but I am in a good company with very good labour-management relations developed over many years. So, with the understanding of my management and co-workers, I make sure I finished my day job before I attend to union duties.
When I started out I was a very shy person who never talked much. Over the years, I developed confidence and contributed to SISEU by coaching, bringing in new members and building up capabilities. I have seen the union grow to nearly 80,000 members now and it is still growing.
I also hope to nurture a team of effective union leaders to help workers as industries restructure. Together with SISEU exco and branch leaders, I aim to help members be future-ready by encouraging them to have a continuous learning mindset.
What do you hope to achieve for SISEU and as an NTUC Central Committee member?
As an NTUC Central Committee member, I keep the SISEU flag flying until a younger person is ready to take over. As one of the largest unions, it is important that SISEU has a voice in the Central Committee. I am thankful for the opportunity to become the chairman of the U Live community where there is much to be done for mature workers. One of the programmes which we are working towards is achieving higher re-employment of older workers to allow them to work for as long as possible without any age limit.
“Building union membership is one of the things which I love to do. I also like to talk to and encourage new members to be in the committee and build up the union base as strong membership is very important for the future of the union.” - SISEU General Treasurer and NTUC CC member Philip Lee
