THANK YOU: SWBEU president Mohd Zainorin Arsad (right) presents a token of appreciation to Azih.
SIBU: The Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) is calling for a review of the Regional Incentive Payment and rate increase to commensurate with the rising cost of living.
Its deputy president Azih Muda said they would bring the matter to the Action Committee meeting for Public Service New Remuneration Scheme (SBPA) if the government did not undertake the study.
He said the matter was long outstanding and it was high time that the fixed payment be un-pegged to benefit civil servants in Sarawak’s federal agencies and departments.
Azih also warned that motivation of civil servants nationwide was now at its lowest caused by the ambiguity in salary increment and perks under SBPA.
“Regional Incentive Payment (Bayaran Insentif Wilayah) is pegged based on the last drawn salary as at Dec 31 last year whereby if one’s salary is RM5,000 then one will be getting 10 per cent of the amount.
“However, even though there is an increase in salary this year, the incentive payment will remain the same since it is pegged to last year’s drawing salary,” he told a press conference after the Sibu Water Board Employees’ Union dinner here on Friday.
“Hence, we urge the government to review the payment and have it increased it has been outstanding for some time. Should the government not carry out the review, we will bring the matter to the Action Committee for SBPA,” he said.
Azih also said the Action Committee on SBPA would prepare a comprehensive working paper based on five key demands made by Cuepacs.
This he added, included review of salary adjustment of officers in Grade 54 and below, preserving officers’ seniority in the Malaysian Remuneration Scheme (SSM), review salary scheme for civil servants, who have reached the ceiling scale, review of the salary of between seven and 13 per cent and review the restructuring exercise at all grade levels.
In general, Cuepacs wanted all grades in SSM from the 1,300 schemes be reviewed thoroughly.
He said when all the matters had been compiled they would bring it to the Action Committee meeting in Putrajaya.
“The committee, besides looking into the dissatisfaction caused by the implementation of SBPA, would study the minimum and maximum salaries for civil servants,” he said.
He lamented the ambiguity in salary increment and perks under SBPA had caused dissatisfaction among civil servants.
“The review of salary of between seven and 13 per cent is not visible. Due to the conversion of SBPA, it is not clear who is getting seven or 13 per cent.
“On the contrary, those in the top posts are getting between 46 and 89 per cent increase in salary which is a huge gap. Unless there is a big leap in the salary, it is difficult to achieve the per capita income of US$15,000 come 2020,” Azih said.
Asked on request from civil servants working in the rural areas for higher allowance, he said Cuepacs was focusing on salary review for now.
“After this, we shall study all allowances such as housing, accommodation, and so on. There are more than 180 types of allowances and we hope to complete the study by June this year and submit to the government for tabling in the coming budget, and hopefully for implementation next year,” he said.
Meanwhile, SWBEU forwarded 17 requests through Cuepacs one of which was calling for the revision of incentive.
Earlier in his speech, Azih called on members to be united in struggle to fight for their rights, adding that they had 1.7 million members nationwide.