Contract postmen get left out

Only half the postmen and women on contract terms who applied for permanent jobs were successful, lawmakers have been told.

A Legislative Council paper prepared by Hongkong Post showed that in an open recruitment in March 2007, 12,100 people applied for 209 jobs as postmen or postwomen on permanent civil service terms.

Among the applicants, 126 were already working as postmen on contract terms, but only 67 were accepted - just 32 per cent of the 209 recruited. Those on permanent terms enjoy higher pay and better benefits.

Hongkong Post said it wanted an open and fair recruitment to choose the best candidates.

The government started to employ contract staff in 1999 and the number of such employees reached a peak of 16,960 in 2007, from 11,244 in 2001. At the end of last year there were about 14,600 people on full-time contracts in the government. Hongkong Post has about 6,000 postmen and women, a third on contracts.

Lawmakers were concerned that contract staff were not being treated fairly at open recruitments. Lee Cheuk-yan, a Confederation of Trade Unions legislator, said: 'It is unfair to postmen on contract terms during open recruitments, as their previous working experience in the department is disregarded.'