The GSR promised in 2004, was completed with a report submitted to the Administration in November 2008 and, in accordance with established practice, recommendations should be implemented, effective from that date. However, the Administration has yet to discuss the recommendations with the Police Force Council Staff Side and there is still no clear indication on the implementation date.

On Sunday, June 28, 2,300 police officers attended a forum hosted by the Police Force Council Staff Side in Police Headquarters to air their grievances and discuss fairness for police and the GSR. Mr Leung Chun-ying, Convenor of the Non-official members of the Executive Council (ExCo), and ExCo member, Mr Cheng Yiu-tong attended the meeting, as did Legislative Councillors, Mrs Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee and Dr Priscilla Leung Mei-fun. Representatives of the Civil Service Bureau and Security Bureau also attended.

The meeting was broadcast live to various venues within the Police Headquarters complex. A capacity crowd listened to various speakers from the Staff Side, both Deputy Commissioners, the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Disciplined Services Salaries and Conditions of Services, Mr Barry Cheung, and the Legislative Councillors. The Commissioner addressed the men and women of the Force to reiterate his pledge to them for a fair and reasonable deal.

There was strong support from officers attending for the Commissioner and the efforts of the Staff Side as they strive for early implementation of the GSR recommendations, retrospective to November 2008. In addition, concerning Commissioner's pledge to personally intervene, Mrs Ip stated that the GSR was "long over-due" and she promised that the controversial issue of the 2009 Pay Trend Survey would be raised by her to the Chairman of the LegCo Panel on Public Service in their next meeting. Dr Leung stated that she fully understood the difficult job that police do and that the Force had broad community support for its work. She will push for implementation of the GSR recommendations ahead of any pay cut by legislation. There was wide media coverage of the event. The issue will be discussed again in the Police Force Council Meeting on July 9.

Mr Philip Sham, Chairman of the Superintendents' Association, commenting on the protest that was then changed to a forum, said: "Things have worked out better. Officers who were understandably upset with the way they are being treated and who were going to protest, as well as those who want to simply have proper dialogue on the issue and get CSB views, can now look forward to some resolution. We all have the common objective of 'Fairness for Police and Fair Pay for Police', with the implementation of the GSR recommendations ahead of any legislation on the 2009 Pay Trend Survey." Mr Sham was the facilitator at the Sunday forum.

Mr David Williams, Chairman of the Overseas Inspectors' Association, said in the forum: "This is about the GSR, about motivating and retaining staff in their mid-career, this is about resolving problems that have been fermenting for over 20 years. This is about preventing rank and file officers leaving prematurely for the officer cadre in other disciplined services. This is about being united together and about the people of Hong Kong having the police force they need and deserve."

Mr Chung Kam-wa, Chairman of the Junior Police Officers' Association, explained that "Officers are obviously very upset, especially with the attitude of CSB but we now have the Commissioner's pledge and we trust in him to take up the issue of the GSR for early implementation."

In closing, the Commissioner, apart from renewing his pledge to Force members in support of fair pay for Police, also asked officers to adopt a reasonable and rational approach to strive for a fair and reasonable outcome to the GSR. He encouraged staff to continue to express their concerns to their Staff Associations and through established channels.

For further details, please see Staff Side Force NoticeBoard message which includes a full article and the Commissioner's statement and statement by the Staff Side made on Thursday June 25.

This article is contributed by the Police Force Council Staff Side.

Officers turn out in force to support the forum on fair pay

CP supports the Staff Side's fight for fair and reasonable pay