The labour movement must always be workers-centric and continue to look after the interests and welfare of workers here, said labour chief Lim Swee Say at an event to round up a month of celebrations for May Day on Saturday.

"Over the years, we have managed to continue to remain relevant in terms of supporting our workers in the workplace," said Mr Lim.

"We are very grateful that many workers have come forward to join the labour movement... I'm very happy to see that the membership is growing steadily, but we are not taking this growth for granted because we recognise that the needs, the aspirations, the anxiety of the workers will always be there, and therefore as a labour movement, we must always be, basically workers-centric, continue to look after their interests, continue to look after their welfare."

Speaking to the media at the May Day Family Fiesta, an event for union members, he commented on recent wide discussion on anti-discrimination, describing such discussion as important.

"We are very encouraged by the comments from the Manpower Ministry , that the Ministry is open to the idea of legislation in terms of anti-discrimination," he said.

Mr Lim added that the labour movement, which represents more than 500,000 workers, is looking forward to working very closely with the tripartite partners put in place a legislation framework so that it will address both the concerns of the workers as well as the businesses.