Civil service unions demand meeting with new Hong Kong leader John Lee over ‘insulting’ 2.5 per cent pay rise offer
- Unionists hope to be able to convince Chief Executive John Lee, who only took office last Friday, to overturn the offer of an across-the-board pay rise of 2.5 per cent
- Calls come after talks between representatives of four government staff consultative councils and civil service chief fail to iron out differences
Unions representing various ranks of Hong Kong’s 180,000 government workers have demanded a face-to-face meeting with the city’s new leader to vent their anger over an “insulting” 2.5 per cent pay rise endorsed by his cabinet on Tuesday.
The call was made after talks between representatives of four government staff consultative councils and Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan on Wednesday failed to iron out differences.
Lam Chun-hung, staff-side chairman of the Model Scale 1 Staff Consultative Council, which represents mainly frontline workers or low earners, said after the meeting: “The offer is flatly unfair. Even ministers can have pay adjustments to catch up with inflation. Why can we not? We hope to be able to present our case directly to John Lee.”
“Food prices and transport fares have increased over the years. If our pay rise cannot catch up with inflation, it is in effect a pay cut. Frontline staff will be the hardest hit,” added Lam.
Lam Chi-wai of the Police Force Council said his group supported Lam’s demands and also that they were “extremely dissatisfied” with the offer, and questioned how the 2.5 per cent was derived.
Lee Fong-chung of the Senior Civil Service Council also expressed disappointment and regret over the government offer and urged it to have a rethink.
