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The Security Bureau, the Civil Service Bureau, the Fire Services Department (FSD) and the Hong Kong Fire Services Department Staffs General Association (SGA) met today (September 13) to discuss the proposal on reduction of conditioned working hours of Fire Stream members.
The FSD issued questionnaires to 6,335 Fire Stream members in August this year to gauge their views on the proposal for reducing their conditioned working hours to 51 hours per week (the "new 51 Proposal"). The survey covered all the staff affected and recorded a response rate of about 91.4 per cent. The survey showed that over half of the Fire Stream members were supportive of the new proposal. The number of those supporting the proposal as compared to those not supportive was close to a 2-to-1 ratio.
The Administration reiterated at the meeting that the Government is open to proposals for reduction of conditioned hours of work that satisfy the three principles of "cost neutral", "no additional manpower" and "maintaining the same level of service to the public", provided that they are supported by reasonable grounds and justifications.
At the meeting, the FSD said that the department will continue to listen to the views of the staff side, including the SGA, and will continue to explore the possibilities for fine-tuning the "new 51 Proposal", having regard to the three principles. Upon consolidating views from various parties, the FSD will submit a detailed proposal to the policy bureaux and will discuss with the bureaux on the implementation timetable of the trial scheme and other details.
The Government spokesperson said the Administration adopts an open attitude and maintains communication with various staff unions, and hopes that positive progress can be made through discussions. The Administration also hopes that the SGA will stay calm and rational and ensure that any actions taken by the association would not affect the service to the public.
Ends/Thursday, September 13, 2012
Issued at HKT 20:14
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