Some 4,000 bus drivers of the NSW State Transit (NST) will get a 3.25 percent pay increase per year in the next three years.

The NSW Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) said the raise is one percent higher than the public sector wage cap but the state government granted it in exchange for the cost savings the drivers are giving to the NST.

Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian said pay hike above the wage cap is possible " if offset by demonstrated savings in the workplace," according to Perth Now.

Berejiklian was referring to the monitoring of driver skills aboard bus in service.

The NST's current driver maintenance course takes drivers off the road with two or three other drivers as trainers. A camera installed on the bus records the training.

"Obviously the cost of getting you off the road is expensive, so what they've done is they've developed a hand-held device which allows the driver trainer to get on your bus while you're in service," said RTBU Bus and Tram Division Officers Chris Preston, according to ABC.

The other cost saving measures are reduced pay for second-year trainee drivers and changing holiday rosters.
Preston said 75 percent of union members voted in favor of the 3.25 percent annual pay rise.

RTBU members in a rally in September.