PUTRAJAYA: In less than two years, the government has met the demands of public sector employees made in the last 15 years.

For this, Omar Osman, president of the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Service (Cuepacs), said civil servants must reciprocate by improving the delivery of their services.

He welcomed the incentives for public sector employees.

"This is what we have been fighting for. The extension of the retirement age, that pension payment be based on one's actual years of service and the new salary scale are issues that we have been championing for over the last 15 years.

"These three main requests were fulfilled between last year and this year. Now, what we want is for civil servants to change the way they work.
"We expect more discipline and productivity in the delivery system," he said at the public sector Workers Day gathering at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre yesterday.

On the new retirement age, which has been raised from 56 to 58, Omar said although Cuepacs had asked for it to be extended to 60 years, it was happy with 58.

But there would come a time for the government to raise it again, he added.

On the Efficiency Level Assessment (PTK) that would be retained with changes, Omar said Cuepacs welcomed the move to exempt written tests for employees from Grade 1 to 16.

He said Cuepacs had submitted a working paper to the government on the best assessment methods and would continue to help improve the system.

PTK, which has become a bone of contention among civil servants, was introduced in 2002 when the Malaysian Remuneration System replaced the New Remuneration System.

Passing the PTK was used as a basis for promotion.

Omar said with Abdullah's announcement, retirees could expect bigger pensions from next year although there would be no payment for arrears.

He said Cuepacs accepted that the government was not able to backdate the additional payments as it had to deal with huge expenditures.

Commenting on Cuepacs' request for a review of the housing allowance, Omar said he was told by Abdullah that the issue would be considered in Budget 2009.

The Public Service Department (PSD) would look into its requests for critical allowances, he added.

Present at the gathering were ministers, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan and PSD director Tan Sri Ismail Adam.

Earlier, Omar said the relationship between employees and bosses in the civil service should be improved.

He said some heads of government agencies and departments thought of unions as a nuisance seeking to interfere in their affairs.

"This should not be the case. When the prime minister can hold talks and engage with Cuepacs, why can't these agencies and departments do the same?"

Omar said Cuepacs was gathering reports from unions which had been facing such problems and would forward them to the chief secretary to the government.