Joseph Nagarajan – Public Service Medal
Mr Joseph Nagarajan first became a union leader in 1979 at the headquarter branch for SBS Transit. Within the branch, he has progressed up the ranks to become branch chairman, a position he still holds today. At the union level, he was elected to the National Transport Workers’ Union (NTWU) executive council in 1990, where he has served as assistant general secretary and vice-president before his current role as general treasurer.
Key Achievements
Pioneer of the union – Mr Nagarajan was one of the pioneer union leaders when NTWU was formed in 1981. Since then, he has played an active role in the union and has been an important bridge between NTUC and the union. In recognition of his efforts, he was conferred the May Day Comrade of Labour award in 2005.
Building good labour-management relations – NTWU and ComfortDelgro, of which SBS Transit is a part of, today enjoys excellent labour-management relations, with Mr Nagarajan’s efforts. He helped ease members’ concerns when the company underwent a series of restructuring in 2003. He has also worked with the management to unionise the company’s subsidiaries. Today, all eight of ComfortDelgro Group’s subsidiaries are unionised.
Representing PMEs – After changes to the Industrial Relations Act were made in 2015, Mr Nagarajan led discussions with ComfortDelgro Group on collective representation for professionals, managers and executives (PMEs). He also helped NTWU to identify potential PME union leaders, resulting in the formation of a pro-tem committee at the end of 2015.
“This award means that our contributions have been recognised. We assisted our fellow workers wholeheartedly for their well-being. To me, I will still continue to do my best for my fellow workers, whether I receive any award or not, as without them, I am nowhere.”
