Transport operator SMRT has released this statement on the mainland Chinese bus drivers who did not turn up for work this morning:

"This morning, 102 of our Service Leaders (SLs) for our buses who were recruited from China (PRC) did not show up for work. As a result of their absence, a number of our bus services were affected. We apologise to commuters and the public who were inconvenienced by the affected bus services.

In recent salary adjustments for our SLs, SMRT gave salary increment to all SLs who joined the company before July 2012. These 102 PRC SLs were not happy with their increment. We regret that they chose to express their unhappiness about their salaries in this manner, especially when our lines of communication with them are always open.

Talks between our management and the SLs started this morning and ended this evening at about 6 pm. This group of PRC SLs will be returning to work tomorrow.

We thank Ministry of Manpower and Ministry of Home Affairs for their assistance in this matter.

Once again, we apologise to commuters and the public for the inconvenience caused."