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Go-Ahead S’pore Raises Starting Pay For Bus Captains
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July 3rd, 2016 | 08:18 AM | 2253 views
SINGAPORE
In a sign of the growing competition for bus drivers here, Go-Ahead Singapore, the country’s fourth public bus operator, has raised the basic starting pay of its local bus captains by about 4.6 per cent, in a move that comes on the back of recent pay hikes announced by two of its rivals.
From Friday (July 1), all Go-Ahead Singapore bus captains who are Singaporeans or permanent residents will have their minimum basic starting salary raised to S$1,950 a month, from S$1,865 previously. This pay rise applies to both existing and new bus captains, the operator said in a press release.
Bus captains affected by the transition to the Government’s bus contracting model will also be offered the same basic starting salary when they join the firm.
Go-Ahead Singapore managing director Nigel Wood said the operator was committed to offering all its employees a “competitive” employment package.
Last November, Go-Ahead Singapore clinched the second package under the Government’s bus contracting model to operate 25 services in the Punggol and Pasir Ris areas. These services will be rolled out from September.
Under the model, operators earn a fee for running bus services, while the Government retains fare revenues.
Go-Ahead Singapore has hired 655 of the 700 bus captains it aims to recruit and train by the third quarter of the year.
The company’s move follows similar steps taken by other bus operators. Last month, SBS Transit, the Republic’s largest bus operator, raised the gross monthly salary for new bus captains who are Singaporeans and permanent residents to about S$3,460.
This amount includes a higher basic monthly salary of S$1,950 — up from S$1,775 — as well as overtime and incentives.
In May, Tower Transit, Singapore’s third bus operator, announced a 3.5 per cent pay hike for its drivers and staff, which meant that a junior driver would receive a basic monthly pay of S$1,930.
Asked whether it would also follow suit with a pay increase, SMRT’s vice-president for human resources, Mr Gerard Koh, said the transport operator was working with the National Transport Workers’ Union to ensure that total remuneration and benefits for its bus captains “remain competitive”.
FACING PRESSURE
Transport analyst Walter Theseira said the limited supply of local bus drivers means that operators are facing pressure to compete for them.
“The bus contracting companies are under pressure to deliver a higher quality of service, in order to qualify for incentive payouts, and the only way they can do so is with a committed and stable workforce,” added Dr Theseira, a senior lecturer at SIM University.
Assistant Professor Terence Fan, a transport specialist at the Singapore Management University, said the pay hikes were positive for bus drivers in the short run, but the overall package must be examined — including fringe benefits — as the basic pay was only “one component”.
He added that Go-Ahead Singapore was beginning operations soon and the pay rise was probably needed to meet staffing needs.
It is dangling a bonus to entice bus drivers to “leave their long-time employers” to join a new firm.
Source:
courtesy of TODAY
by Kenneth Cheng
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