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In response to media enquiries on the Association of Liaison Officers' decision to take industrial action starting from Sunday (November 1), a spokesman for the Home Affairs Department (HAD) today (October 30) said the department expressed regret to this decision, but would continue to have discussions with the association. The spokesman stressed that the management had appealed to staff members to give priority to serving the public and avoid causing inconvenience to the public because of the industrial action.
The spokesman said HAD would cope with its daily work through internal re-deployment. Service to the public would not be affected at this stage. The industrial action to be taken by the association at this stage will include the stoppage of performance of certain duties in relation to public consultations, co-ordination of different government departments, free legal advice service, administrative support and management of community halls and public enquiry service centres, and fund raising.
The spokesman said, "HAD has put forward improvement proposals to address the career development and workload issues which are of most concern to the LO grade. We have explained our proposals to all LOs and will strive to implement these proposals shortly. We hope that colleagues will continue to perform their duties diligently."
The spokesman reiterated that through regular meetings with the association and other channels, management had been discussing the issues raised by the association and LO grade with a view to addressing their concerns.
To better serve the public and ease the workload of the department, HAD has been actively considering adding various posts based on actual job requirements.
Supervisors of various districts and divisions will also launch a work review with different grades to streamline work procedures and reduce workload.
The spokesman said that HAD would endeavour to maintain its service to the public and minimise the impact of this industrial action.
Ends/Friday, October 30, 2009
Issued at HKT 18:46
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