SINGAPORE - Tower Transit announced a pay raise of 3.5 per cent for more than 700 of its staff on Monday (May 16), including bus captains for the 26 services it is taking over from May 29.

The bus operator announced the increment, which is based on national wage data, after coming to an agreement with the National Transport Workers' Union.

Starting this month (May 2016), junior bus captains with the Anglo-Australian firm will now receive a basic monthly salary of $1,930, which can go up to more than $3,440 monthly when overtime and other incentives are included.

"Besides helping our workers cope with the cost of living, the increment also serves to keep their wages competitive," said NTWU executive secretary Melvin Yong.

In November last year (2015) Tower Transit announced that it would offer a starting basic wage of $1,865 a month, up to 15 per cent higher than existing bus operators SBS Transit and SMRT at the time.