http://www.tremeritus.com/2013/03/18...r-smrt-strike/
Private bus operators have revealed that their PRC drivers are playing truant, giving the operators headaches in recent months after about 200 SMRT PRC bus drivers went on strike four months ago over poor salary and dormitory conditions (‘Breaking: 200 SMRT PRC bus drivers go on strike!‘). This is according to a TNP report today (18 Mar).
Some PRCs school bus drivers have developed a bad habit of showing up late for work. They deliberately shut off their handphones so they cannot be contacted. When they finally call the office, they would say they were on MC or they simply overslept. Some have frankly said they want to go home.
To make things worse, the PRC drivers would sometimes take MC together, causing great inconvenience to the bus operators. A bus operator said, “Finding so many replacements is really very difficult at such short notice.”
Another operator said, “Every morning, if all my buses can move out, I really thank the gods.”
TNP reported that such last minute no-shows have become more frequent in recent months after the SMRT bus strike. The bus operators have already sent back home some of the recalcitrant PRC drivers.
Like their compatriots who work for SMRT, the PRC school bus drivers are asking to be paid more. PRC drivers are currently getting about $1,500-$2,000 a month compared to Singaporean drivers who are getting $2,000-$2,500. The PRC drivers are paid less because they are provided with accommodation. Also, bus operators have to pay a foreign worker levy for each of them.
The PRC bus drivers are not just asking to be paid the same as Singaporean bus drivers but they want to be paid the same as lorry drivers, who can earn twice as much as a bus driver.
A lorry driver is paid per trip depending on the distance travelled and the kind of materials carried. The more trips a driver makes, the more he earns. A hardworking lorry driver who drives, say, 10 hours a day, can expect to earn as much as $6,000 a month. With the construction boom in recent years, the demand for lorry drivers to deliver construction materials has shot up.
Currently, there is a loophole in the system which some PRC bus drivers are exploiting. PRCs have to take a driving test in Singapore to be bus drivers here. The bus operators invest in them by sending them for months of training and tests. However, once they get their class 4 driving licence, they will be able to drive lorries as well. So, some of them, even before they start off as bus drivers after getting their class 4 licence, actually quit and go back to China before returning to Singapore to work as lorry drivers.
Under these circumstances, PRC bus drivers feel they deserve to be paid as much as lorry drivers. So they pressurise their employers into paying them more by playing collective truant. They know they can easily get a higher-paying lorry driver’s job.
Indeed, a transport operation manager said, “They began (to show their displeasure) by hinting that working as lorry driver would fetch more pay.”
.
Private bus operators have revealed that their PRC drivers are playing truant, giving the operators headaches in recent months after about 200 SMRT PRC bus drivers went on strike four months ago over poor salary and dormitory conditions (‘Breaking: 200 SMRT PRC bus drivers go on strike!‘). This is according to a TNP report today (18 Mar).
Some PRCs school bus drivers have developed a bad habit of showing up late for work. They deliberately shut off their handphones so they cannot be contacted. When they finally call the office, they would say they were on MC or they simply overslept. Some have frankly said they want to go home.
To make things worse, the PRC drivers would sometimes take MC together, causing great inconvenience to the bus operators. A bus operator said, “Finding so many replacements is really very difficult at such short notice.”
Another operator said, “Every morning, if all my buses can move out, I really thank the gods.”
TNP reported that such last minute no-shows have become more frequent in recent months after the SMRT bus strike. The bus operators have already sent back home some of the recalcitrant PRC drivers.
Like their compatriots who work for SMRT, the PRC school bus drivers are asking to be paid more. PRC drivers are currently getting about $1,500-$2,000 a month compared to Singaporean drivers who are getting $2,000-$2,500. The PRC drivers are paid less because they are provided with accommodation. Also, bus operators have to pay a foreign worker levy for each of them.
The PRC bus drivers are not just asking to be paid the same as Singaporean bus drivers but they want to be paid the same as lorry drivers, who can earn twice as much as a bus driver.
A lorry driver is paid per trip depending on the distance travelled and the kind of materials carried. The more trips a driver makes, the more he earns. A hardworking lorry driver who drives, say, 10 hours a day, can expect to earn as much as $6,000 a month. With the construction boom in recent years, the demand for lorry drivers to deliver construction materials has shot up.
Currently, there is a loophole in the system which some PRC bus drivers are exploiting. PRCs have to take a driving test in Singapore to be bus drivers here. The bus operators invest in them by sending them for months of training and tests. However, once they get their class 4 driving licence, they will be able to drive lorries as well. So, some of them, even before they start off as bus drivers after getting their class 4 licence, actually quit and go back to China before returning to Singapore to work as lorry drivers.
Under these circumstances, PRC bus drivers feel they deserve to be paid as much as lorry drivers. So they pressurise their employers into paying them more by playing collective truant. They know they can easily get a higher-paying lorry driver’s job.
Indeed, a transport operation manager said, “They began (to show their displeasure) by hinting that working as lorry driver would fetch more pay.”
.
