HONG KONG: Some senior civil servants say a constant stream of new government measures is an incessant blow to their morale. They are considering early retirement and might take further action if the administration confirms a proposed salary reduction.

Representatives of the Hong Kong Senior Government Officers Association met Permanent Secretary for the Civil Service Andrew Wong Ho-yuen to express their discontent yesterday.

The association is outraged at the proposed pay cut, the review of the regime governing post-service employment of directorate-level civil servants and the late submission of the grade structure review report.

Chairman So Ping-chi said the administration only took into account the pay trend survey but neglected other factors, including staff morale, in adjusting salaries.

"It doesn't matter if our pay is increased or not, but the government must follow the existing mechanism and be fair and impartial to us," he told reporters.

The administration has announced a 5.38 percent pay cut for senior civil servants.

So also said it was unfair that their counterparts in the middle and lower ranks would have their pay levels frozen considering that the pay trend survey suggested a decrease.

The association will lobby lawmakers to vote against the pay cut proposal in the Legislative Council (LegCo) next month.

Ip Kwok-him, chairman of the Committee on Public Officers Pay Adjustment Bill, said the LegCo will listen to views from different parties but he believed the public expects civil servants to pitch in during difficult times.

However, committee member Lee Cheuk-yan said he would vote against the bill because he feared that a pay cut for civil servants would encourage similar moves in the private sector.

Meanwhile, So said the review report on post-service employment for directorate civil servants also upset members of his association. The review committee proposed last month extending the prohibition on post-service employment for most senior civil servants to five years from three.

The sweeping measure would further deprive senior civil servants of their right to work and contribute to society after retirement, So said.

He also urged the government to implement suggestions in the grade structure review.

"We feel highly dissatisfied that the government suppressed us repeatedly in the past six months," he said.

He added that more senior civil servants are considering quitting the administration early as their efforts have gone unrecognized.

"Many of them have been emotionally upset. Our morale has hit a historic low," he said.

The association will hold a meeting with its 2,000 members in October to collect their views. So stressed that they would strive for their rights rationally but further action may also be considered.

A spokesperson from the Civil Service Bureau said the administration has followed the established mechanism in taking forward the 2009-10 civil service pay adjustment and would submit the grade structure reviews to the Executive Council in the next two months.

(HK Edition 08/21/2009 page1)