CUEPACS BONUS HOPES DASHED

Malay Mail

Wednesday,
October 28th, 2009
02:10:00


The recent budget may have brought cheers to many but sadly, it was a big blow for the civil servants and especially to the Congress of Union of Employees in the Public And Civil Services.
The Cuepacs president has been assuring civil servants time and again that the government has indicated positively to its request for a bonus payment.
Many civil servants were utterly disappointed when there was no announcement of a bonus.
The Cuepecs president should not mislead the civil servants with all kinds of promises and false hopes just to gain popularity among the civil servants.
Cuepacs ought to be realistic and pragmatic in its approach, especially in issuing press statements on the bonus payment.
When the government has not agreed to a bonus payment, why give false hopes to the civil servants?
Cuepacs should realise that it is not fair to expect much from the government due to the global economic slowdown, which has affected the country’s economic performance greatly. It should instead focus its efforts to create awareness among the civil servants of the need to really improve their productivity and not to expecttoo much handouts from the government during these difficult times.
The token allowance of RM500 for civil servants, announced by the Prime Minister in his maiden Budget speech, has somewhat came handy for those in the lower salary brackets.
However, there are others who view it as pittance. Many are wondering how government-linked agencies could pay hefty bonuses to their staff during these difficult times.
Anyway, it was Cuepacs that raised the hopes of these civil servants to a point of saying that the government has somewhat agreed to give the two-month bonus.
Cuepacs has a lot of explanation to do to the civil servants for misleading them.
Perhaps it is time for the present Cuepacs president to pass the leadership baton to someone else , for he is sounding more like a politician than a trade union leader.