CIVIL SERVICE SALARIES

Southland Times, Issue 25549, 18 December 1944, Page 6

CIVIL SERVICE SALARIES

ASSOCIATION SEEKS INCREASE (P.A.) WELLINGTON, December 16. “The New Zealand Public Service Association notes with approval that members of Parliament have raised their honoraria to £5OO per annum, together with .a tax-free allowance of £250 to cover expenses,” said Mr A. H. O’Keefe, president of the association, in a statement today. “This restoration of members’ salaries may prove unpopular among certain sections of the people, but the association feels that the Government should be commended on its courage. As the Prime Minister said, when opening the association’s annual conference last October, stabilization does not mean that just claims for salary increases will be rejected. “Now that an equitable increase in the salaries of members of the Government has been obtained, the time appears opportune for a similar increase in the salaries of the servants of the Government. The great majority of public servants are receiving salaries which force them to live much nearer the breadline than did members of Parliament before the present increase. Therefore, the association strongly suggests that the Government should give immediate consideration to the salary claims of public servants. GOVERNMENT’S RECOGNITION “For many years the association has been pressing for the restoration of the 1921 public service salary scales and by raising the honoraria of members of Parliament to their 1921 level the Government has tacitly recognized that the association’s claims are just. We would point out in this connection, however, that because of the great increase in the cost of living in recent years the mere restoration of the 1921 salary scales would by no means be sufficient to allow public servants a reasonable standard of living today. The granting to themselves of an allowance of £250 would appear to show that the Government also recognizes this fact. “A restoration of 1921 salaries, together with a reasonable allowance to meet the increased cost of living, is what the Government has granted to themselves. This is exactly what the association expects should be granted to the Government’s servants.”