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Panel issues guidelines to protect bus sector employees

SINGAPORE — Guidelines to protect the welfare of bus sector employees that operators competing for contracts under the new public bus contracting model have to follow have been issued by a tripartite committee that spent months culling feedback from workers who feared upheaval when the new model takes effect.

SINGAPORE — Guidelines to protect the welfare of bus sector employees that operators competing for contracts under the new public bus contracting model have to follow have been issued by a tripartite committee that spent months culling feedback from workers who feared upheaval when the new model takes effect.

When operators take on a contract for routes previously run by another operator, they will have to offer affected employees a job and must offer employment terms that at least match what employees were enjoying before the transition. Affected staff must also be allowed to choose whether they wish to join the new operator or be redeployed by their current employer.

The guidelines also spell out the obligations of both incoming and outgoing bus operators. For instance, incoming operators must follow guidelines in areas such as the timeline for the offer of employment and recognition of the length of service. A driver who served the outgoing operator for 20 years, for example, should be given entitlements and benefits based on his 20 years of service. Furthermore, an affected employee must be offered a job by an incoming operator at least six months before the new contract starts. The employment terms are to be effective for at least one year.

These guidelines will be incorporated into the Land Transport Authority’s tender specifications and subsequent contracts with the public bus operators. The bus contracting model is part of the Government’s efforts to improve public bus services. The tender for the first package of services will be called later this or next month and services will start from the second half of 2016

Unveiling the guidelines yesterday, the Public Transport Tripartite Committee (PTTC) said that for the contracting model to be sustainable, there is a need for continued harmonious labour and union-management relations, underpinned by strong tripartism.

At the media conference yesterday, PTTC chairperson Josephine Teo said bus workers were worried over job security and employment terms under the new model. “The whole process of managing the transition, a very important part, is to ensure that the employees are comfortable, aware of what is going on and also supportive of this transition,” said Mrs Teo, who is also Senior Minister of State (Transport).

Asked if operators would lose the incentive to train workers for the long-term under the contracting model — in which contracts last five years — Mrs Teo said operators, on the contrary, are very interested to retain staff. Firms that are unable to retain workers have a lower chance of winning the next tender and with the Government providing buses, the operators’ main asset is people, she added.

As for what happens to the terms offered to employees after one year, Mrs Teo said they will change based on mutual agreements between the employer and worker.

Both the Singapore National Employers Federation and the labour movement voiced their support for the guidelines yesterday, as did public transport operators SBS Transit and SMRT. At the press conference yesterday, both operators emphasised the importance of developing staff, such as through training and offering wages that recognised employees’ skills.

Australian bus operator Tower Transit, which declared its intent to enter the Singapore market in May, called the guidelines “very clear rules of engagement”. “We have won many tenders and while employees are sometimes nervous before transition, they soon become some of our most loyal employees,” a spokesperson said.

Bus Hub Service founder V Anilan said retaining existing drivers — on terms that are the same or better — would be necessary for incoming operators as finding competent drivers in a short time is difficult.

However, he felt the authorities should give greater latitude to new operators as long as they can provide competitive terms of employment, as the guidelines could hinder the new operator from coming up with improved ways of deploying manpower.

 

CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this article said tenders for three packages of services will called be later this or next month. This is incorrect. The Land Transport Authority has clarified that the tender for the first package of services will be called later this or next month.

 

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