Civil servants plan March 6 protest over one-off MPF handout exclusion

Civil servants, including public school teachers, joined forces against the unpopular government budget after they found out some of them would be excluded from a one-off payment to be made to retirement funds.

Not all who are eligible for the financial injection are happy, either. About 380,000 employees who are on the Occupational Retirement Schemes will get the HK$6,000 handout, but only if they open a new MPF account and manage it till they reach the retirement age of 65.

The procedure itself is a nuisance for many - not to mention the management fees they may have to pay to fund managers for that account.

Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah proposed on Wednesday giving holders of Mandatory Provident Fund and Occupational Retirement Schemes accounts a one-off payment of HK$6,000. They will get the money only when they retire.

However, 127,000 civil servants who will receive government pensions are excluded from the offer. Some 2,000 teachers at government schools are also precluded.

The Federation of Civil Service Unions and the Professional Teachers' Union will join the Democratic Party to stage a protest they term a 'Bauhinia Revolution' on March 6 - mimicking the 'jasmine revolutions' sweeping the Middle East.