PTCC outlines three key recommendations for the bus industry

With changes to the public bus transport system underway, bus workers must be offered jobs by the firms which are taking over the current routes from their current employers and their work terms cannot be poor than their current ones. These were among a series of guidelines laid out yesterday by the Public Transport Tripartite Committee (PTTC) headed by Senior Minister of State for Transport Josephine Teo.

Concerns over the fate of employees such as drivers and technicians had been raised as Singapore moves towards a new contracting model from 2016.

Under the new government contracting model, operators will bid for the right to run parcels of routes for a fixed number of years. If an operator fails to meet service standards, it risks not being invited to bid for future parcels, which raises the potential uncertainty for workers.

As such, the PTCC was set up to address these issues back in February. Yesterday, Mrs. Teo, who chairs the committee, announced three key recommendations for the industry come 2016, reported The Straits Times.

First, all affected workers must be offered a job by an incoming operator.

Second, affected workers must be offered employment terms no worse than what they have been enjoying - at least for the first year.

Third, affected workers can choose to join the new operator, or be redeployed by their current employer, where feasible.

The committee is made up of representatives from the Land Transport Authority (LTA), Ministry of Manpower, National Transport Workers' Union, SBS Transit and SMRT. They drew up the three guidelines, which will be spelt out in operating contracts.

The first operating contract - a route parcel in the west - is projected to be up for tender by the end of September. The route parcel consists of 24 existing and two new services in Clementi, Jurong and Bukit Batok , and will operate out of the new depot off Jurong West Avenue 2, from the second half of 2016.

The new contracting model paves the way for the bus industry to receive more direct government subsidies and is believed to free operators from the pressure of having to balance revenue and service standards. They will also be freed from having to acquire and hold on to operating assets as the city-state will own all infrastructural and operating assets.

It is believed due to the changes, the operators will be able to focus solely on meeting service standards, which are expected to rise over time.