The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) May Day Awards 2023 will honour 128 distinguished and deserving individuals – including union leaders, workers, management partners and government representatives at Suntec City Convention Centre on Monday, 22 May 2023. This is in addition to 44 organisation awardees1 who will receive the awards at the ceremony. A total number of 172 May Day Awardees will receive their awards from NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng.
This year's individual May Day awardees have been nominated for their exceptional and continuous contributions to the Labour Movement, in support of its programmes and initiatives that have helped workers in their employability, employment and welfare. Workers who showed readiness and resilience in the face of transformation, by initiating productivity improvements; improving their employability through up-skilling; and being adaptable to changing work environment, have also been nominated as Model Workers.
Among the NTUC May Day Awards to be presented to these individuals this year are:
Note: # indicates awards for union leaders.
The individual honourees, who come from private, public, and non-government sectors, have shown tenacity in support of the Labour Movement and in garnering better wages, welfare and work prospects for workers. For example:
Wages: The awardees have helped to improve wages of workers by working with their unions to preserve jobs in difficult times; being strong advocates of the Progressive Wage Model; and helping to secure fair annual increments and variable bonuses through negotiations with management.
Welfare: These individuals have gone the extra mile by serving workers in the union, stepping in to handle workplace grievances; and by pushing for various welfare benefits. They are strong proponents of Labour Movement initiatives that improve welfare for workers. These include being key drivers of the adoption of the Tripartite Standards on Fair Employment Practices; or the NTUC U Small and Medium Enterprises (U SME) “NTUC In Your Workplace” initiative to develop a more positive workplace environment for workers to thrive.
Work prospects: The awardees have been actively providing or advocating for training and development opportunities, or workforce transformation through the Company Training Committees (CTCs) so that workers may be equipped with key competencies for the future of work. Some awardees who are also exemplary workers, displayed resilience and adaptability, putting lifelong learning into practice and inspiring fellow workers to undergo training to stay employable.
Union Leader Awardees
Amongst the union leader awardees, Fahmi Abu Bakar Bafana, President of United Workers of Electronics & Electrical Industries (UWEEI); Mike Thiruman, General Secretary of Singapore Teachers’ Union (STU); Peh Chee Kang, Vice President of National Transport Workers’ Union (NTWU); and David Teo, President, Creative Media and Publishing Union (CMPU) will be conferred the Comrade of Labour (Star).
Piragasam Munisamy, Assistant General Secretary of the Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Employees’ Union (SMEEU) is a notable awardee. As recipient of the Comrade of Labour (Star) award, he is an exceptional union leader who has served for 27 years and worked tirelessly to safeguard his members’ welfare and benefits. For example, he has helped to secure better benefits for workers affected during Covid-19; influenced the enhancement of policies to help members resolve employment-related grievances; and pushed for the formation of a CTC between Cameron Singapore and SMEEU to help workers stay relevant.
Haji Mohd Khalip Awang, General Treasurer of Union of Security Employees (USE), is a recipient of the Comrade of Labour award. He is a long-serving staff at his hotel and has contributed to various aspects of wage negotiations for the security officers. He has actively raised substantial pointers when discussing Annual Wage Supplement bonus, which has resulted in higher bonuses for officers compared to the other in-house security officers in the same industry.
Management Representative Awardees
Among management representatives or non-union leaders who received the May Day awards, Koo Tsai Kee, Trustee and Advisor, United Workers of Electronics & Electrical Industries (UWEEI); and Alexander C. Melchers, Vice President of the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) and Council Member of the National Wages Council (NWC), are recipients of the Distinguished Service award this year. The Distinguished Service award is conferred on persons who, after having received the Meritorious Service Award, are still active and continue to render significant contributions for three years or more to the Labour Movement.
Alexander C. Melchers has made significant contributions to re-employment efforts of older workers, especially when he was chairman of the Tripartite Implementation Workgroup in 2007. The feedback presented from the Tripartite Implementation Workgroup was adopted into a practical tripartite advisory that guided employers and unions in re-employment for older workers before the Retirement and Re-employment Act was implemented.
Member of Parliament Gan Thiam Poh, who is advisor to Building Construction and Timber Industries Employees' Union (BATU) and to Singapore Maritime Officers' Union (SMOU), has been awarded the Meritorious Service for his outstanding contributions to the Labour Movement. As BATU’s advisor, Gan Thiam Poh helps to scrutinise accounts and budget of the union and review the union’s portfolio mix to ensure diversification and minimise risk exposure. As SMOU’s advisor, Gan Thiam Poh spoke up for seafarers at the Budget 2023 debate. He sought the Government’s support to extend the Sail Milestone Achievement Programme to seafarers under the Special Limits Category. The Meritorious Service award is conferred on persons who, after having received the Friend of Labour Award, continue to make outstanding contributions for three years or more to the Labour Movement.
Other notable awardees include Lee Seow Hiang, Chief Executive Officer of Changi Airport Group (Singapore) Pte Ltd; Tan Chong Meng, Group CEO of PSA International; and Vincent Chong, Group President and CEO of Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd, who will be conferred the Medal of Commendation (Gold) award. These are senior management personnel who, besides promoting good industrial relations and initiating workers’ training and skills upgrading programmes, also supported the Labour Movement and its initiatives.
Recipients of the Medal of Commendation award include Aw Kah Peng, Chairman of Shell Companies in Singapore; Cheng Siak Kian, Managing Director / Group CEO, ComfortDelGro Corporation Limited; and Deputy Chairman, SBS Transit Ltd; and Heng Guan Teck, Deputy CEO of Institute of Technical Education.
Model Worker Awardees
Awardees of the Model Worker award exemplify Worker 4.0, displaying the traits of Ready, Relevant and Resilient by improving their jobs through adopting/initiating productivity improvements and their employability through up-skilling and digital transformation related training as well as being adaptable to the changing work environment. These recipients include Ahmad Shufi Jasmani, Senior Staff Nurse I at National Skin Centre; Ban Kum Cheong, Taxi Driver at Strides Taxi Pte Ltd; and Rajaswaran Pakirisamy, Senior Security Officer at Raffles Hotel Singapore.
Please refer to Annex A for more information on the individual award categories and the full list and citations of the individual awardees receiving the awards above. A media release disseminated earlier on 12 May 2023 detailed the list of 44 organisations who were conferred with the May Day Awards this year. Please visit https://www.ntuc.org.sg/uportal/news/NTUC-May-Day-Awards-2023/ for more details.
The list of 44 distinguished organisations that received the NTUC May Day Awards 2023 was announced on 12 May 2023.1
