COPY
S.A.T. Unit, H.K.C.C.S.A.
11th May,
1977
Secretary for the Civil Service, Government Secretariat,
Lower Albert Road,
Hong Kong.
Dear Sir,
As a result of the Consultative Meeting between Fr. A.J. Scott, Secretary for the Civil Service, and the representatives of the S.A.T. Unit, H.K.C.C.S.A. on 2nd May 1977, and in view of the sincerity of the... Official Side for which we thank you, we hereby reply point-to-point to your letter dated 4th May 1977.
The S.A.T. Unit recommend the use of the "SALARY TRENDS & FRINGE BENEFITS" researched and published by the Hong Kong Productivity Centre and ground work for further consultation and proceed with careful and detailed comparison of the above research report with your P.I‚U, Report. In order to achieve full agreement by both sides to a package deal which will be acceptable to all, please bear in mind that it is unfair to and discriminating against the Shorthand-Audio Typists in the presentation of fresh evidence should the Government consider only their own source of reference and insist on quality, applicability plus accuracy of the P.I.U. Report. The Salary TRODS & TRINGE BENEFITS" now submitted herewith should be treated by both sides as an in-between media as the salary scale set by the Government has been purely based on the figures and survey of the P.I.U. Report.
INFORMATION IN SUPPORT OF OUR CLAIM FOR QUITABLE RATE OF PAY
A. The P.I.U. Report of a Pay Survey of the Secretarial Class
as at 1.4.73 Appendix E (page 1) Para.2
"The practical problems of collecting the data are such that
they materially affect the interpretation of the results. It is therefore necessary to examine in some detail the existing guidelines given to Government."
Appendix E (page 1) Para. 3
"The 1965 Salaries Commission Report advised, and Government accepted, that in adopting a fair comparison pay policy the Civil Service should set its pay level at that of a good employer in the private sector, good employers being defined
as
Para.60
employers paying rates close to the upper quartile of rates in respect of a comparable occupation."
This defined a good employer in terms of salary level. To set the Civil Service rate in accordance with this advice it would be necessary to construct a league table of pay rates for all types of employer (i.e. very poor to excellent) which either calls for a very large survey, to be sure of getting the full spectrum, or for some skilled judgment as to which are poor and which are excellent employers in pay terms. The former method would be unreasonably time-consuming and probably inconclusive in that the poor employers would be unlikely to cooperate with the Unit; the later would be subjective and would probably lead to dispute between the Official Side and the Staff Side, and again the poor employers would be unlikely to cooperate."
Appendix E (pago 1) Para.4
"...the 1955 Salaries Commission was presumably influenced by
the 1958/55 Priestley Royal Commission on the U.K. Civil Service, it is interesting to note the following extracts from the Priestley Report :-
/para. 172....