Hong Kong lawmakers approve pay rise for civil servants despite opposition’s calls to block deal for police over their handling of anti-government protests

City’s 176,000 civil servants and police to benefit from improved deal passed by Legislative Council’s Finance Committee

Opposition politicians wanted police left out of pay increase of up to 5.26 per cent, over their handling of anti-government protests

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Police will receive a pay rise despite attempts to block it by pro-democracy politicians over the way officers treated anti-government protesters. Photo: Edmond So

Published: 12:29pm, 28 Feb 2020Updated: 12:31am, 29 Feb 2020

Lawmakers approved an annual pay rise for Hong Kong’s 176,000 civil servants on Friday, even as the pro-democracy camp sought to argue that the police force did not deserve the deal worth about HK$12 billion in total because of its handling of the anti-government protests.

Overtime pay for officers costing nearly HK$1 billion was also approved by the Legislative Council’s Finance Committee, a sum which has soared over the past six months of unrest sparked by the now-withdrawn extradition bill.

The pay increase for government and police staff of up to 5.26 per cent will be backdated to April 1 last year.

The police package has been subject to fierce debate in the committee’s six sessions since December. Overtime pay and allowances increased tenfold to HK$2.5 billion in 2019/20, compared with the original estimates, according to the latest government budget released on Wednesday.

The opposition pro-democracy camp has been highly critical of police’s handling of protests since June last year, and tried to block their pay rise.

Government and civil servants’ unions opposed that move, saying the pay increase had always been approved as a package.

Civic Party lawmaker Kwok Ka-ki said: “None of us are opposed to civil servants’ pay rises, but how dare police still ask for a pay rise after the repeated attacks on our people? We cannot allow a single dime to go to the police.”

Referring to some public sector workers’ support of the anti-government protests, Priscilla Leung Mei-fun of the pro-establishment Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong said: “I’m also very frustrated about individual civil servants’ performance.

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