PUBLIC SERVICE SALARIES

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 250, 16 July 1919, Page 8

PUBLIC SERVICE SALARIES

THE COMMISSIONERS CLASSIFICATION VIEWS OF THE ASSOCIATION Recent comments 011 tho reception given by Civil Servants to the l'uo.io service Commissioners' classification have resulted in the Publio Service Association making a statement as to its views on the matter. The question .was the subject of consideration by tlie executive committed of the Public Service Association 'at Jv meeting held 011 Monday night. It is tho opinion of the committee that the alloca. tion of salary increments lo officers of the Clerical Division with salaries under the old scale ranging from .£looper an. num to .£260 per annum is satisfactory both to those men affected directly ana from -a national policy point of view, The new salaries may encourage many of these officers to establish homes with a reasonable degree of safety. Officers hitherto on a maximum salary of per annum have been advanced to a ,£3OO maximum, the limit of their class. General Division officers have received increments to compensate them for the increased cost of living, estimated on' a basic wage of -C 165 per annum. .This is considered to lie a just recognition of their needs. The above groups, speaking generally, lwvo been advanced in salary by an. amount equal to the full war bonus granted to officers of the Railways Department, and in some ■ cases a regrading increiiiont lias been given. Ihe association, however, is of opinion that the senior officers, comprising the group in receipt of salaries under the old scale from J3315 psr annum upward, have not received* the full consideration which their duties and responsibilities should command. The policy adopted >oy the Public Service Commissioner 111 these cases appears to. be contrary to the policy of the Post, and Telegraph Department, the senior officers of which have been given considerably greater increases than those granted to tho general Public Service. Expressed differently, the position of the controlling staff iin re.WtAn -o subordinate, officers has not been maintained in the new classification. • The association stands for equality 01 payment to, men and women o.erical officers; therefore it cannot regard witli approval the differentiation madel in tlie increments given under the classificntion i although it must to admitted that both have been given similar maxima. It is understood that the Commissioner, whilst recognising the merits of the female stau, considers ;it advisable to give preference to married male clerks, and to potential "husbands. Whether this sacrifice of justice to policy is justifiable is a matter of opinion. The association feels strongly that the female stafl of shorthand typists- has not been fairly treated so far as salary scale and immediate increments are concerned. In too many cases it is evident jfliat no allowance has been made for the increased cost of living, a , VWV serious consideration to these moder-ately-paid officers. A great deal of indignation and dissatisfaction has been expressed by those concerned, and there would appear to be ample reason for this | feeling. It; is hoped that the Board of 1 i.Appeal..will take a more reasonable and | generous view of the needs of the=e officers. . , | The Commissioner hns not attempted « the hopeless task of trying .to please every oue of the army of public servan a i whom he controls, but, witli the exception mentioned above, he' has produced a result. which faiwninded critics must admit to be equitable. .Individual cases | there are which' must be referred to tho 1 Board of Appeal for adjustment and anomalies exist which are inevitable in j view of the fact tbaf'all increments are to date from April 1 last, instead of from the date' of joining, or of last promotnn in. the service, ■ thf> practice followed hitherto.