Hospital Pay Deal Encouraging, Says Lawmaker

Health services legislator Joseph Lee says the tentative agreement reached between the Hospital Authority and public hospital support staff on a pay increase is very encouraging, even though it only came after some workers threatened to hold a sit-in protest.

The workers on Wednesday accepted the management’s offer of an 8 percent salary increase across the board and called off a planned demonstration, although they were demanding a 12 percent pay hike.

The Hospital Authority's chief executive, Leung Pak-yin, had said both sides would now need to check whether the deal was acceptable.

Speaking to RTHK’s Janice Wong on Thursday, Lee said the resignation rate of support staff has been “quite obvious”, adding that hopefully the pay adjustment would help to keep them working in the public healthcare system.

On whether the Hospital Authority's quick response would be perceived as bowing down to threats and whether this would set a bad precedent, Lee said the adjustment of their pay scale had already been under discussion for two to three years, and the authority should explain to the public the reasons behind the agreement.

He noted that the Hospital Authority’s nurses are asking for a pay rise as well, so that their pay scale will return to the levels before the year 2000.

He said the extra funding set aside in Financial Secretary Paul Chan’s latest budget would present an opportunity to push ahead with this demand.