In response to media enquiries today (October 6) about an earlier meeting of the Civil Service Bureau (CSB) with major civil service staff unions to listen to their views on the proposal about oath-taking by civil servants, a spokesman for the CSB made the following statement:
The CSB reported to the Panel on Public Service of the Legislative Council on July 10 the progress of the study on introducing an oath-taking requirement on civil servants and put forward a proposal on the directions for implementation. The CSB met with the staff side representatives of the four civil service central consultative councils and the four major service-wide staff unions to listen to their views on the proposals in late September.
At the meetings, the Secretary for the Civil Service gave the staff side representatives a clear explanation about various recommendations, including that the Bureau would issue a circular concerning the signing of declaration by civil service new recruits as soon as possible as well as the content of the circular.
On reports which quoted a union representative's claim that the Secretary for the Civil Service had personally made a so-called "promise" in the meeting that an advance copy of the relevant CSB circular would be given to the four major service-wide staff unions, the spokesman said this was totally unfounded.
The spokesman stressed that issuing advance copies of circulars to the staff sides of the central consultative council was in accordance and in line with the established procedure.
The Government has all along attached importance to communication between the staff side and the management. There is a well-established mechanism to liaise with staff representatives through different channels and consult them on matters of staff concern and related policies and practices. Individual civil servants or staff associations/unions can also offer their views to respective heads of department or grade or the CSB through existing channels.
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