Wage raise for civil staff reviewed today

2012-02-07
From: Macau Daily Times

A recently created committee will meet today for the second time to discuss a possible raise to the civil servants salaries this year. The government wants a 4.9 percent increase but public workers associations are digging in for at least 6.5 percent.
The second meeting of the Committee of Deliberation on the Remuneration of Public Administration Workers will discuss a concrete proposal, the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP) director said last week, after the initial meeting.
All members agreed that four factors must be considered in determining the wage raise, Joseacute Chu said.
The representatives from the public workers associations stressed that the governments financial situation is very positive and that inflation remains high. But other issues, such as private market wages and the populations opinion, must also be taken into account, the official added.
The Chinese Civil Servants Association urged the government to increase salaries of public workers by 6.5 percent next year, while the Macau Civil Servants Association wants the raise to reach seven percent.
According to sources quoted by local media, the initial proposal from the government was an increase of 4.9 percent, lower than inflation, which hit 6.8 percent last December.
But last weekend local economist Albano Martins said such a raise would just bring back the salary level from the beginning of 2000. He said the Administration should increase at least 10 percent if the goal was to improve the purchasing power of public workers.
The wages of civil servants were last updated in 2011, with the wage index increased from MOP 59 to 62, up by 5.08 percent.

Copyright Macau Daily Times