XN000022-1973-07-20 — Page 7

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Friday, July 20, 1973

GOVERNMENT REPLIES TO MIDWIVES PETITION

The midwives last night were sent the government's reply to

their recent petition on the pay dispute.

The Director of Medical and Health Services, Dr. G.H. Choa, said

today that the reply had restated the government's view that the new pay

scale approved for the midwives was, on all the evidence available to the

government, a very fair one.

This scale, he said, represented an average increase of 30 per cent,

approximately double the average increase paid to the public service as

a whole after the 1971 Salaries Commission, and had been further increased by

3 per cent from April 1, 1972.

The new scale was produced after thorough investigation by the

Senior Civil Service Council of the duties and responsibilities of midwives

and it had been exhaustively discussed in the council.

Dr. Choa went on to say that the government now had no fresh proposals

to make. But he repeated what he had said on a number of occasions, namely,

that if the midwives wished to produce new evidence, including evidence

of pay in the private sector, they could always do so through their

representatives on the Staff Side of the Senior Civil Service Council.

Commenting on the decision reported to have been taken by government

midwives, health auxiliaries and inoculators to perform minimal duties

for 48 hours beginning next Monday, Dr. Choa said: "I would deplore any

action arising from this decision which might have an adverse effect upon

the health and welfare of the public.

/"I would