Schools accused of cutting wages to fund activities
Janitors' and clerks' salaries have fallen from $8,000 to $6,000, says union
Clerks and janitors are being exploited by schools which have cut their wages to pay for extra-curricular activities and facilities, according to their union.
The Hong Kong School Clerks' and Janitors' Union, which represents more than 400 staff, said most schools offered a starting salary of less than $6,000. That compared with at least $8,000 before 2001, when the government delinked clerks' and janitors' wages from the civil service pay scale and combined different administration grants into an operating expenses block payment.
Union chairman Ng Wai-ling said there had been more than 20 complaints in 2004-05 alone, which she had relayed to Cheng Man-yiu, Deputy Secretary for Education and Manpower, at a meeting this week.
'Schools have been cutting back on our salaries since they were given more flexibility in resource allocation,' said Ms Ng. 'I don't think $6,000 a month is a decent salary. Schools are squeezing money from us to subsidise extra-curricular activities and school facilities. It is exploitation.'
She said many had left schools because of underpayment and had not been replaced. As a result, the workload on remaining staff had increased dramatically. Many were forced to work unpaid overtime at school events on Sundays.
The union is demanding that the Education and Manpower Bureau (EMB) restricts use of the block grant received by schools to the payment of staff.
An EMB spokesman said schools were free to use the block grant according to their needs, but must be 'sensible, reasonable and legal' when hiring staff.
Tso Kai-chun, vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Subsidised Primary Schools Council, admitted the majority of schools paid new janitors less, but stressed the money saved was spent on education.
'We are in a dilemma because there is clearly a clash of interests between non-teaching staff and the school as a whole,' Mr Tso said.
'And it is difficult to draw a line as to what is a decent wage for school janitors, considering that the average salary for new university graduates is only $8,000 these days. It seems the most sensible decision to pay them according to the market rate.'
Legislator Cheung Man-kwong, also the president of Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union, said schools should pay school clerks and janitors in line with the civil servants' pay scale.
'School clerks and janitors are part of the school, and every individual in the school should be respected,' Mr Cheung said.
'If schools follow the market mechanism, the wage reduction could go on forever because there is an excess of labour in the market. This is unfair to staff because they are not respected for their work.'
He said he believed parents would support increased wages of clerks and janitors. 'Like them, most parents are employees in the job market and they should be sympathetic to their situation.'
