CO129-577-8 Junior Clerical Service- petition for improvements in salaries and conditions of service 6-7-1939 - 19-12-1939 — Page 50

8.

5.

That, secondly, your petitioners beg respectfully

to point out that the following paragraph of the Salaries Com-

mission Report, 1929, has never been carried into effect :

$180

!

"We are of the opinion also that the requirement of ten years' continuous service, which finds no counterpart in the regulations for rent allowances to European officers should be abandoned, and that rent allowance should be granted to officers recruited locally as from the time of their entry into the Service."

The said Commission devoted much time and thought to the question

of rent allowance for the Junior Clerical Service and it is

earnestly hoped that their recommendations in principle will be

carried out as early as possible, preferably as from 1st January

1939. (Appendix L).

6.

That, thirdly, the standing and dignity of the

Junior Clerical Service are being seriously compromised by the

splitting up of Class VI into two sections in 1925 and remunerat-

ing one section much worse than the other. As the speed of a

convoy is the speed of the slowest ship so the quality of a

staff is largely determined by the quality of its lowest grades.

(A) Class VIA was originally formed to accommodate

junior officers who shewed more than average

merit and deserved more rapid promotions. Ac-

cordingly a higher commencing salary was attached

to this Class and the prospects of advancement

to higher classes were rendered brighter.

promising recruit was expected to be promoted

from Class VIB to VIA after an "apprenticeship"

of two or three years in Government service,

possibly earlier.

(B)

A

But in the course of a decade the raison d'etre

of Class VIA underwent a complete change. Now

Class VIA is becoming less of a device to enable

promising recruits to advance quickly. It has

of Salary

L

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