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Several major civil service unions in Hong Kong have urged the government to approve a salary increase of at least 4 percent to boost workforce morale amid ongoing annual pay adjustment discussions.
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The appeal was made on Thursday during a meeting between union representatives and Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan, where staff associations shared their expectations for this year's salary review.
Citing increasing workloads due to understaffing under the streamlined structure, the Government Employees Association proposed a uniform 4.12 percent pay raise for all civil servants.
To attract and retain skilled and experienced staff, they urged the government to offer competitive pay raises to ensure quality public services.
They also urged the administration to thoroughly evaluate all six established factors under the existing mechanism when determining the final adjustment.
Following the meeting, Tsoi Koon-lung, president of the Hong Kong Chinese Civil Servants' Association, noted this year's net pay trend indicator for lower-paid staff is relatively low.
He stressed that the overall picture should be considered, warning that if the pay raise falls below 3.8 percent, it would be akin to a wage cut.
He also cautioned against deepening the pay gap between senior and junior staff, noting the current difference already exceeds HK$100,000.
Addressing potential public backlash following the recent tragic fire at Wang Fuk Court, Tsoi emphasized that the unions had already taken overall public sentiment into account by keeping their proposed demands relatively modest.
While acknowledging the tragedy, he advised against judging the entire civil service based on isolated incidents, expressing confidence in Hong Kong civil servants, whose efficiency regularly ranks among the world's top in international competitiveness surveys.
This union push comes just a day after the Pay Trend Survey Committee officially validated its findings yesterday.
The survey revealed gross pay trend indicators of 2.33 percent for the lower salary band, 3.67 percent for the middle band, and 5.16 percent for the upper band.
