Baptist University staff campaign on threat of sackings
Action launched after consultation document on pay and rewards suggests layoffs in tough times
The staff union at Baptist University has started a signature campaign to overturn the university's right to sack staff in times of financial difficulties.
The campaign was launched in response to a consultation document distributed to staff last month on a new pay and reward structure to be implemented next year.
It proposed that the university could lay off staff on substantive appointment on the grounds of financial difficulties. Future staff will be given substantive appointment only after a minimum period of employment of six years.
To Yiu-ming, convenor of the 500-member HKBU Faculty and Staff Union, said the provision was not included in the previous consultative document on the new remuneration packages and could undermine academic freedom.
'It is totally unacceptable. No other universities have such provision. Academic staff may not commit to long-term research without a sense of job security,' he said. 'The university should not shift the responsibility for financial problems to teachers.'
A HKBU spokesman said the proposed policy applied only to new staff.
But Mr To said there should not be two kinds of employment systems within one university and the upholding of the tenure system was essential to a university's development.
'We will be collecting signatures the whole month this month and seek the support of more non-union members for our future negotiation with the university,' he said.
Shum Kar-ping, chairman of the Federation of Higher Education Staff Associations, said universities worldwide were expected to provide job protection for substantiated staff.
'The staff could mount lawsuits against the university in future should their jobs be axed. Universities should first cut the salaries of the management or introduce reform at the management level to cope with financial difficulties,' he said.
Meanwhile, Polytechnic University has withdrawn its proposals to cut staff benefits including annual holidays following overwhelming opposition from staff.
In a letter to PolyU Staff Association, president Poon Chung-kwong also expressed regret over the 'ill feelings' caused to staff by a warning carried in the consultation document that those opposed to the changes could be dismissed.
He pledged to work closely with staff to formulate new proposals. Acknowledging that the trust between management and staff had been jeopardised by a problem in communication, he wrote: 'To remedy the situation, I will further strengthen my dialogue with colleagues to address the roots of the problems with the earnest hope of strengthening the bond we shared.''
