Civil Service Pay Adjustments

THE CIVIL SERVICE unions' dissatisfaction with the pay increase offer this year has materialised into
action. To date, several disciplined services unions have announced their withdrawal from the Pay
Trend Survey Committee, and the Senior Government Officers Association is asking the Chief
Executive to form an arbitration committee to review the pay increase offer, warning that their
members will adopt an "uncooperative attitude" if the arbitration results are unsatisfactory.

The Executive Council has resisted all this pressureand followed the net pay trend indicators in
finalisingthe pay offer. However, two things are worthy ofnotice since they may be indicative of whether
or notthe government is bending to the unions' will.

First, in her capacity as Acting Chief Executive,Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor tried
tocourt civil servants by praising them for helping theChief Executive in his administration "with all
theirheart and soul", for which she as well as the ChiefExecutive is "heartily thankful". She also
undertookto strengthen communications between the CivilService Bureau and civil servants'
representatives,and to respond positively to requests related tomanpower deployment, fringe benefits,
etc.

And for his innocent remark that "senior civilservants are in a better position to bear the burden(of
inflation)," Secretary for the Civil Service PaulTang Kwok-wai is accused of high-handednesstowards
civil servants, and a few days ago heapologised for his "improper remarks". Evidently,civil service
unions are so powerful that thegovernment has to back away from a confrontationwith them.

Civil servants' pay increases have always beenbased on a pay adjustment mechanism. But
afterfinding that this year's net pay trend indicators arenot in their favour, the civil service unions
haveswitched their emphasis to the other five payadjustment factors, demanding a pay increase
levelhigher than what is warranted by the net pay trendindicators. Recently, many citizens have called
radiocurrent affairs programmes to express theirdisapproval of the civil service unions' demands,which
some people describe as "insatiable".

In recent years, when there are disputes over civilservants' pay or fringe benefits, civil servants and
thepublic tend to hold diametrically opposed views, andin response to widespread public criticism of
theirmembers' work, the civil service unions have alwaysdeclared, in an aggrieved manner, that
theirmembers work very hard. The fact, however, is thatthe performance of many government
departmentsleaves much to be desired. For instance, NewTerritories small houses are riddled with
illegalstructures, which have become almost aninsurmountable problem, thanks to the
LandsDepartment, the Planning Department, and theBuildings Department, which have all failed
todischarge their duties all these years. There havealso been a number of lift accidents recently,
thanksto the lack of supervision on the part of the Electricaland Mechanical Services. And with regard
to theLamma sea disaster, the Commission of Enquiryconcluded that the Marine Department had
longbeen careless in its work and inattentive toregulations, as a result of which 39 people lost
theirlives. In the light of all these concrete examples, thecivil service unions' protestations of hard
workappear rather unconvincing.

Therefore, a review of civil servants' payadjustment mechanism should not only take intoaccount pay
trends in the private sector, but alsointroduce a reward and penalty system tiedeffectively to work
performance, so that civil servantsmay be adequately rewarded or punished accordingto their deserts.
This will help to mould the civilservice into a driving force for social progress.