5.
(b)
흐흐
(c)
that the real purpose promotion posts within a grade is to provide for and recognise that there is a level of more onerous and responsible duties; that Government should be in a position to conduct discussions with recognised staff associations, through their committees or officers, in the
knowledge that such committees are representative and can undertake commitments and reach agreements
on behalf of their members; and not find subsequently
that, after much time and effort has been spent, a new committee wants to begin the process again. We make this point not so much with the agreement in mind which was reached with the previous Typists' and SATs' Committees but with reference to the agreement on Equal Pay of 1969, the agreement in 1972 on Pensionability for Married Women with its concomitant abolition of marriage gratuity, ́and the agreement in 1973 on Half-pay Maternity Leave for all. These agreements were reached after full consultation with, inter alia, the HKCCSA to which all SATS are eligible to belong and through which they could have made their voices heard before the above agreements were reached.
With regard to the request contained in paragraph 4 of Mrs Cheung's letter of 29th April, Mr Scott said at the meeting that he would not for the time being go ahead with ending the preliminary period during which options will carry retrospectivity, but would await the further fresh evidence in support of a better package which Mrs Cheung said she was preparing to forward to the Official Side. The ending of the preliminary period would apply to the Secretarial Class as a whole, and consideration would be given equally to any evidence submitted by the other three Unit Committees.
6..
are
-:
Turning to the four questions raised, our comments
(a) SATS were not included in the equal pay scheme
because they were, in 1969, regarded as being already paid the rate for the job they were doing. In 1971 representations made on their behalf including this point, were given careful consideration by the Salaries Commission, which, in para. 161 of their report, commented on them. Any anomalies were corrected at that time;
(b)
The 1972 and 1973 agreements reached with the three main Staff Associations, including the HKCCSA, were package agreements for female officers as a whole. There were compensatory features in the agreements, i.e. pensionability to continue, following marriage, for all women officers, and half-pay maternity leave for all, instead of full
It is pay for some and no pay for the others. correct that the Secretarial Class did not do quite as well as many female officers in other Classes at that time, but this sort of thing is the essence of a "package", and this particular package was considered beneficial to female officers in Government as a whole and achieved dignment of their terms of service;
... /(c) . . . .