From business support to union partnership: Cornerstone Global Partners’ journey towards unionisation

• CGP Group's partnership with NTUC SME Partners began with business transformation, not unionisation.

• More than two years of support helped the company strengthen its business and invest in its people.

• The relationship-built trust and eventually led CGP's Singapore office to unionise with SMMWU in June 2026.

• Its journey shows how SMEs can tap NTUC’s wider ecosystem to support both business and workforce needs.

When Cornerstone Global Partners (CGP Group) Singapore team first met with NTUC SME Partners in late 2023, the recruitment company was not ready for one thing: unionisation.

But instead of seeing CGP’s hesitation as a dead end, NTUC SME Partners saw it as the start of a longer conversation.

For more than two years, both sides worked together on areas ranging from technology and productivity to employee training and workforce transformation.

There was no rush to formalise a union relationship. Instead, the focus was on understanding the company’s needs, finding ways NTUC could help, and building trust along the way.

Starting with the business

CGP was first introduced to NTUC SME Partners through its app development vendor in 2023.

Back then, CGP had already identified a growing problem.

Its staffing and workforce solutions business, CGP Personnel, deploys thousands of contract workers to clients across Singapore and Malaysia. But as operating and manpower costs rose, the company saw the need to scale more efficiently.

CGP’s management decided it needed to develop a one-stop recruitment and workforce solutions app to strengthen its operations and remain competitive.

The question was: where do they start?

After some introductions, CGP was assigned to NTUC SME Partners Account Manager Victor Foo.

He acted as the bridge between CGP and the wider NTUC ecosystem, understanding what the company was trying to achieve, guiding it through the relevant processes, and coordinating with other NTUC offices and capabilities.

Through their interactions, the company got to learn about the Company Training Committee (CTC) Grant – a government-backed funding that supports up to 70 per cent of companies’ transformation or training costs – and NTUC’s Operation and Technology Roadmap (OTR), the congress’s strategic business planning and facilitation programme.

For CGP, the value was not simply in accessing funding.

“The roadmap gave us real clarity on what to prioritise, which made a significant difference to how we approached the project,” said CGP Co-Founder and Managing Director Sean Ng.

But while the company saw the value in NTUC’s services, Mr Ng shared that, at the time, the company was not quite ready to formally recognise a trade union.

“At the time, unionisation wasn't something we were ready for,” he said. “But the opportunity to receive structured support for a project this significant made the partnership [with NTUC SME Partners] an easy decision.”

Mr Foo shared that he enters every relationship with the companies he is assigned to for the long run. However, he also makes it clear that unionisation is always the end goal.

“With CGP, I guess it was easier because he [Mr Ng] was not against the Labour Movement,” said Mr Foo. “There are many companies that will tell us ‘No, you don’t touch our staff’, but for CGP, they believe that the Labour Movement benefits their employees.”

Building trust before unionisation

Although CGP was not ready to be unionised, it continued collaborating with NTUC SME Partners.

The company also showed its commitment by sponsoring NTUC membership for some employees.

Over time, CGP gained a broader understanding of what the Labour Movement could offer.

Its employees participated in networking events, training opportunities and workshops, including courses related to artificial intelligence.

Mr Ng said: “What stood out to us was that NTUC clearly puts real effort into organising meaningful events for its members.

“It’s not just about helping businesses grow — it’s about ensuring that our staff also have the opportunity to grow their own knowledge and skills.”

That combination of business support and investment in employees ultimately helped change CGP’s perspective on unionisation.

By late 2025, the company told NTUC SME Partners that it was ready to explore the next step.

After more than two years of engagement, CGP was formally unionised with the Singapore Manual & Mercantile Workers’ Union (SMMWU) on 9 June 2026.

A partnership that works both ways

CGP’s journey illustrates why SMEs do not necessarily have to begin their engagement with the Labour Movement by being ready for unionisation, said NTUC Partners Director Bernard Menon.

He said: “It can begin with a business challenge — whether it is improving productivity, adopting new technology, building capabilities or developing their workforce.”

He added that NTUC SME Partners’ role is to understand where the company wants to go and then work alongside it to connect it to the right resources, expertise and support across NTUC’s ecosystem.

The relationship also extended beyond CGP’s immediate business transformation needs.

The company adopted Tripartite Standards across multiple areas of employment practices, while implementing measures such as flexible-work arrangements.

SME Partners viewed these as signs that CGP was putting progressive employment practices into its policies rather than adopting them simply for recognition.

“CGP is a good example of how this relationship can develop over time,” said Mr Menon.

(From left to right) NTUC SME Partners Account Manager Victor Foo, NTUC SME Partners Director Bernard Menon, CGP Co-Founder and Managing Director Sean Ng, SMMWU Secretary-General Andy Lim, NTUC SME Partners Deputy Director Eileen Oh, SMMWU Council Member Tan Hong Yi.

The next chapter

With CGP now part of SMMWU, the focus shifts from building the relationship to strengthening it.

The union sees itself as a strategic partner, which can help CGP navigate changes in the recruitment industry, including the adoption of AI.

“SMMWU can bridge the gap between rapid technological adoption and workforce stability,” said SMMWU Secretary General Andy Lim. “As a modern union, we can help CGP implement AI smoothly – with NTUC’s resources – while ensuring employees are upskilled, protected, and aligned with the company's growth.”

For CGP, the relationship that began with a business transformation evolved into something broader.

Unionisation was not the beginning of the partnership; it was the result of it.

Find out how NTUC SME Partners can help your business grow.