The Government does not intend to suspend the second-phase civil-service pay reduction, Secretary for the Civil Service Joseph Wong says.

Mr Wong was responding to a media report that a civil-service union would propose to the Government that it drop the second phase of a 3% civil-service pay cut to be carried out next January and instead impose a pay freeze.

Mr Wong said this sort of demand and opinion does not represent the vast majority of civil servants.

He said the Government will continue to implement the pay reduction legislation (Public Officers Pay Adjustment 2004/2005 Ordinance) which was passed last year.

Noting that the first-phase reduction, about 3%, was already implemented with effect from January 1, this year, he said the second-phase reduction - another 3% - will be implemented as scheduled with effect from January 1, 2005.

Civil servants understand reasons for pay cuts

Mr Wong stressed that the vast majority of civil servants understand the reasons for the salary cuts.

"They understand that the pay reduction will continue and I am sure they will not put up any unreasonable demands in this respect," he said.

"I would also like to urge individual civil-service union representatives - and I must stress, I believe this is only a very small number, maybe one or two persons - that when they express their views on civil-service salary matters, they should really take full account of the interests of the community as well as the interests of the entire civil service and the image of civil servants in the eyes of the public."

Review of civil-service pay-adjustment mechanism underway

Mr Wong said the Government is now conducting a comprehensive review of the civil-service pay-adjustment mechanism which will involve a pay-level survey which the Administration intends to conduct before the end of this year.

He said the outcome of this survey will form the basis of future civil-service pay adjustment.