By Ryan Chan
The National Transport Workers’ Union (NTWU) urged Tower Transit Group Limited to recognise the union after the latter was awarded the first tendered bus package under the Government Contracting Model (GCM) on 8 May 2015.
First mooted in 2008, GCM was announced in May 2014 in a bid to create a more competitive industry landscape to provide better service to commuters.
Together with the Land Transport Authority (LTA), Ministry of Manpower (MOM), SBS Transit and SMRT, NTWU is part of the Public Transport Tripartite Committee (PTTC) working towards a smooth implementation of these contracts for the affected workers.
Ensuring Fair Terms
NTWU has also been meeting with potential operators to help ensure that employment rights and job security concerns raised by bus captains and technicians will be taken care of.
PTTC has already released their Guidelines on Good Employment Practices which state that:
· All affected employees must be offered a job by the incoming operator.
· Affected employees can join the new operator or elect to be redeployed by their current employer.
· Employment terms offered by new operators must not be worse off than their pre-transition terms.
Moving Ahead With Tripartism
In a Facebook posting on the same date, NTUC Secretary-General (SG) Chan Chun Sing highlighted the importance of the tripartite relationship in helping these workers.
He said: “Our public bus industry is undergoing a transformation with significant implications for our workers in the bus industry and the public transport system. NTUC and NTWU look forward to working closely with the existing and new bus operators to ensure that our workers in the public bus industry are well taken care of during this transition.
“We look forward to working with our new partner Tower Transit Group Limited to build a strong tripartite relationship for the benefit of our workers and commuters.”
Source: NTUC This Week
