RTHK terminates long-term contract of journalist known for hard-nosed approach, union says
- Staff union says Nabela Qoser’s three-year probationary contract, which was due to be completed this month, is being replaced with a temporary agreement
- RTHK has declined to comment on the matter, but a union rep says Qoser’s years of service and MPF contributions would not be carried over
Hong Kong’s embattled public broadcaster has terminated the probation contract of a journalist known for her confrontational approach to questioning officials, offering her instead a temporary agreement that effectively erases her more than three years with the outlet, according to the station’s staff union.
The union on Friday said that government-funded RTHK had notified assistant programme officer Nabela Qoser of the termination of her probationary contract on Thursday, and offered her a 120-day temporary contract at the same salary if she wished to stay. The move comes amid an ongoing investigation into public complaints filed against Qoser from July to November 2019.
The RTHK Programme Staff Union also said Qoser’s previous years of service and MPF contributions would not be carried over, and that her contract gratuities were also put on hold.
Union chairwoman Gladys Chiu Sin-yan said the arrangement was unfair, and tantamount to firing Qoser, who joined RTHK in October of 2017.
“In fact, the extension of her time of death is like a dismissal already,” Chiu said, adding that the co-host of the show This Week was given until January 28 to make her decision.