SINGAPORE: SMRT's Interim CEO Tan Ek Kia said the recent pay review for its bus drivers was done to help the company stay competitive.
His comments come as some drivers had expressed concern that their take home pay may fall despite the higher basic salaries.
SMRT drivers had
their pay raised from S$1,200 to S$1,625. Along with the increase, their
work week has been revised from five days to six.
Mr Tan said: "The changes that we have introduced affect different groups of service leaders, from different points of entry.
"We
try to take a holistic view and come up with a programme that can
address the real need for them, for salaries to be upgraded and at the
same time, for us to be able to retain and to attract people to come and
join us. That is the kind of approach we have taken in this whole
review.
"We believe we have actually built-in quite a lot of improvements in order that we can continue to attract and retain."
-CNA/ac