KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 28 — Cuepacs wants more than one representative onboard a special panel to negotiate a new remuneration scheme on behalf of 1.3 million civil workers.

Cuepacs president Datuk Omar Osman said he alone was unable to speak for a broad spectrum of civil workers whose issues with the government were just as wide.

“The interest of 1.3 million civil servants nationwide is at stake and I must not be seen as making decisions without consulting other key Cuepacs officials during task force meetings,” he was reported as saying by the New Straits Times in George Town.

The union chief said he would quit the task force chaired by retired Public Service Department (PSD) director-general Tan Sri Ismail Adam if three of his colleagues were not allowed in.

Omar said ideally Cuepacs should have nine representatives, but agreed to limit it to four. He proposed his Cuepacs deputy Aziz Muda, secretary-general Lok Yim Peng and financial secretary Jaafar Mansor.

Omar was the sole unionist allowed in on the panel’s first meeting on January 25 to discuss the new Public Service Remuneration Scheme (SBPA) to replace the decades-old system known as SSM.

Under the SBPA, civil servants would receive an annual salary raise of RM80 to RM320 based on their grades.

Omar said among the key disputes was the lopsided salary adjustment between senior government officials above Grade 54 and those below it. He also said the new remuneration scheme was not seen to be transparent.

Under the new scheme, top-ranking government servants would see their paycheques rise to as much as RM80,000 a month while their chauffeurs get just a RM1.70 increased in monthly wages.

The Cuepacs chief said the umbrella union body will conduct a nationwide roadshow to keep all public employees updated.

He reminded them to file their complaints on the SBPA by February 15.