TNAG-0785-FCO40-989-Study-of-labour-relations-in-Hong-Kong-by-Professor-H-A-Turn-1978 — Page 167

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b ucapable Lostering a responsible attitude to negotiations in

an otherwise lopsided gructure.

Even this recourse is subject to the

Governor's approval.. In 1969, the council's first attempt to resolve a

major pay question ended in deadlock. An Independent Committee of .

Inquiry was called which found in favour of the staff side. During the

economic recession of 1974/5 the government pressured associations into

agreeing to a one-year pay pause on the basis of a predicted budget deficit.

When the budget turned out to be in surplus by $223 million (HK) unions

attempted to re-open discussions. The government refused to discuss the

matter further and proposals for an Independent Committee of Inquiry were

rejected by the Governor because the issue was deemed to be one of 'settled

public policy'. Such unilateral actions have severely damaged the

council's credibility, as has its failure to permit formal representation

---by some of the other 76 unions. In fact, those unions represented presently

account for less than 25% of total union membership.

Fair Comparison

The 1968 agreement represented an attempt to introduce a staff

relations structure modelled largely on the UK civil service except that

in Hong Kong the right of unions to bargain formally with the government has

never been recognised. The government outlined. a new pay policy (also ·

...

modelled on UK experience) where remuneration was to be assessed on the

basis of 'fair comparison with conditions prevailing for analogue occupatious

in the private sector. Where such comparisons were impossible, salary was

to be based on a series of internal relativities determined by the government.

The Civil Service Branch (CSB) was established to centrally administer

staff relations.

A-semi-autonomous part of the CSB the Pay Investigation

Unit was to conduct annual pay trend surveys of the private sector to be

used in SCSC discussions.

Following the 1971 Salaries Commission, the former ten-class system

of broad-banding civil servants' pay was replaced by a salary structure that