Anger swells over 'unequal' wage rises proposed in civil service plan
The Civil Service Bureau's pay rise plan for civil servants has triggered more unrest among workers who say it will not improve their lot.
A social workers' union threatened to strike over unequal pay between government-subsidised groups and the civil service as almost 2,000 people protested yesterday calling for pay rises.
The social workers' discontent was shared by public hospital medical employees, with 14 medical staff groups threatening to unite with doctors, teachers and social workers in more radical action to fight against unequal pay between staff.
The medical staff are angry at the result of the civil service pay rise, proposed in May, saying it will increase salaries for new recruits but not address the pay of staff hired at much lower rates after a government cost-cutting exercise during the economic downturn in 2000.
On Saturday, about 1,000 doctors held a sit-in at Queen Elizabeth Hospital over the issue, just a week after 1,000 teachers protested over the same problem.
The social workers' call for a pay rise comes after the government announced a 4.6 to 4.9 per cent increase for civil servants, which would further widen the salary gap between government social workers and those at non-governmental groups, the protesters said.
Chanting slogans and holding banners, the 2,000 social workers, mostly from non-governmental groups, marched from Chater Garden to government headquarters in Central yesterday morning.
Cheung Kwok-chu, president of the Social Workers' General Union, demanded the government return the funding that it cut from the groups, saying this would allow them to get a pay rise.
'We are doing the same jobs as government social workers, why are we not being paid the same?' Mr Cheung said, saying the proposal would mean a newly recruited government social worker earned HK$17,000, while an NGO social worker would earn only HK$9,000.
Social workers also want the government to cancel the lump-sum grant system that offers lower subsidies to NGOs, forcing the groups to offer lower salaries to social workers.
Mr Cheung said the group would present their complaints in the Legislative Council joint welfare and health panel services meeting today, and if the government did not act, then 'industrial action' may be considered.
Under the bureau's pay-rise proposal in May, the government would increase entry salaries for some civil servants and teachers by up to 30 per cent. The proposal is subject to Legco approval later this year.
Yesterday, 14 medical workers' concern groups - including psychologists, physiotherapists and therapeutic radiographers - demanded the government increase salaries of 5,000 workers who had been recruited at lower pay scales since 2000.
They said they were happy new staff would get a pay rise, but it was unfair to those who joined the government between 2000 and last year.
They demanded that their pay be adjusted, based on their years of service in their sectors.
