Pakatan accuses Putrajaya of ‘bulldozing’ civil service pay scheme

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal

December 22, 2011

PETALING JAYA, Dec 22 — The government should delay the new civil service wage scheme and consult different stakeholders before implementation, Pakatan Rakyat has said.

PR leaders told a news conference here today they feared the Barisan Nasional (BN) government would “bulldoze” the scheme through, which civil service union Cuepacs opposes.

“There is no process of consultation at all with real stakeholders, no transparency.

“The (salary) raise is opaque and vague at best…what is the rational reason for this?” PAS central committee member Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said.

One of PR’s main concerns was the apparent disparity of wage increase between key positions and lower rank positions in the service.

Cuepacs has also demanded the government to delay the implemention of the new pay scheme, stating that they were “disappointed” that they had not been consulted in the matter.

Its president Datuk Omar Osman had said the government should ensure that every civil servant received accurate information before accepting the options of the new civil service wage scheme (SBPA).

Omar said Cuepacs objected the proposed salary adjustments of between 7 and 13 per cent as the Public Service Department (PSD) never consulted them.

The deadline to return the SBPA signed offer letters is also too short and pressure applied by superiors on civil servants to support the option is unfair, said Omar.

“Cuepacs is the body which represents lower ranking civil servants. Their concerns are real, they are dissatisfied they cannot negotiate the matter

“There seems to be an information blackout on government policy,” said PKR’s Abdullah Sani.

Abdullah said PR was in full support of Cuepacs’ demands, and were “committed” to back them up “all the way”.

PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang said that the federal opposition would reveal its alternative plan concerning the welfare of the civil service during the pact’s national convention on January 14 in Alor Setar, Kedah.

“We are ready in the context of what we want (to offer) to the civil service, Pakatan’s commitment to proper governance,” said Chua.

Dr Dzulkefly said that four key papers will be presented during the convention, and that one of it was addressing the concerns of the civil service.