CONFIDENTIAL
機密
(ii) 38 posts of leter Reader I (including
3 supernumerary posts), comparing with 28 posts of lieter Reader (including 2 supernumerary posts) at present;
(iii) 42 posts of leter Reader II, comparing with
57 posts of Junior Meter Reader (including 1 supernumerary post) at present; and
(iv) 5 vacancies of Senior Meter Reader and 10
vacancies of Meter Reader I, if the proposed new structure were implemented.
Current situation
27.
The Association of Water Ileter Reading Staff accepted the package but insisted that the entry qualification for the recruitment rank should remain at Form 5 on the grounds that
(a)
though officers at the recruitment rank of Meter Rader II are not required to speak or to write much English, officers at the higher ranks are required to have a good standard of English and reasonably good numerical ability;
28.
(b)
(c)
(a)
(b)
the lowering of entry qualifications is a retrograde step in the context of the provision of services to the public; and
the lowering of entry qualifications has the effect of lowering the status of all officers in the Meter Reader grade.
The Pay and Structure Division, however, considers that -
only a few senior posts in the Meter Reader grade require a reasonably good standard of English, and it will be wrong to set high entry qualifications for the recruitment rank simply to cater for a few senior posts in a grade consisting of 87 posts; and
an officer who has completed Form 4 will have more than adequate numerical ability for doing any job in the feter Reader grade.
Another reason for which Civil Service Branch cannot agree to the staff side's contention is that if the entry qualification is raised to Form 5 standard, the staff will have a claim for higher starting pay. This would mean paying an inflated salary for over qualified staff.
29.
The present indication is that staff association is not militant but it is taking a very emotional stand on this subject and may take industrial action in the form of "go-slow" or "sit-in" to press for their point.
CONFIDENTIAL
機密