}
even though, strictly speaking, it is not directly relevant (the delay may also be partly explained by the fact that the equal pay scheme was introduced in stages, and only became fully effective in 1976).
3.
In addition to a number of lesser grievances from the past, they are also raising the following objections to the new proposals: (a) the salary scales now being proposed are based on a survey carried out by the Government appointed Pay Investigation Unit (PIU); this survey covered 17 firms, as against 24 in earlier surveys, and it compared unfavourably with a survey carried out at SATA's request by a commercial organization, the Hong Kong Productivity Centre, which covered 177 firms, and which came up with salary scales for shorthand-typists some 25% higher than those of the PIU; the Association are also criticallof the PIU on a number of other grounds;
4.
$
(b) the Association claim that the new scheme gives them poor promotion prospects, particularly since the reorganization will make redundant some 120 Personal Secretaries, who will thus have first priority in filling the senior vacancies that would otherwise represent the normal promotion outlet for the shorthand and audio-typists. In addition, the reduction in the size of the Personal Secretary grade will also have an adverse effect on the promotion prospects of their members; (c) SATA also claim that the salary scale of their grade has been lengthened, from 8 to 11 points, with the starting point one increment lower. At the same time the minimum qualifica- tions have been raised and the standards for proficiency increments increased.
The Hong Kong Government, however, maintain that the 1971 changes were correct: since the shorthand and audio-typists were already receiving the proper rate for the job, they had no claim to consideration when the equal pay scheme was brought into effect. The Hong Kong Civil Service Department point out that when the Salaries Commission in 1971 recommended class scales for the secretarial class, they said that they had taken account of the effects of the equal pay scheme on the secretarial grades,
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