Hong Kong Public Service unions have lent their support to a freeze in workers’ pay for another year, amid fears the salaries of more than 170,000 Public Servants could be cut in 2021-22.
Union leaders said authorities should not cut workers’ pay as they had been on the front-line fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Civil Servants have been working overtime, helping at quarantine camps and with various lockdowns. Their morale needs to be maintained,” President of the Hong Kong Chinese Civil Servants’ Association, Li Kwai-yin said.
Mr Li’s call came after Chair of the Pay Trend Survey Committee, Lee Luen-fai hinted that Public Servants’ pay may actually be reduced by as much as two per cent at senior levels.
Asked whether he really meant that Public Servants should face a pay cut, Mr Lee said he could only say the figures were credible and the Government should rely on them in making a decision.
“No one likes to have their salary reduced, but the Government will consider other factors too,” Mr Lee said.
Meanwhile, contract staff who work for the Government have been told they must follow Public Servants in pledging allegiance to Hong Kong.
The measure would cover foreign native-speaking English teachers (NETs) at Hong Kong Government schools, medics at the Department of Health, and seasonal lifeguards at Government beaches and pools who aren’t on the Public Service payroll.
The Government employed more than 11,000 contract workers as of June last year.
Hong Kong, 23 May 2021
