HKUST will contract out the recreational and sports facilities service under the Student Affairs Office (SAO) without extensive consultation with the students.
Front line contract staff has been informed that their contracts will not be renewed with effective from 30 June and will be transferred to the new appointed contractor instead of directly employed by the university authority. However, not only no concrete commitment on fully employing the whole existing staff team has been made, neither the salary, employment benefits nor any relating details have been mentioned. The recreational and sports facilities service team has no bargaining power nor being involved in the discussion process between the university authority and the contractor, while they are passively suppressed with no leverage in hand, which above all is only a total injustice action. The general contract-out services always fall on those who have the most ‘economic one’ among the bidders, which the cost saved is absolutely a reflection on the exfoliation from the employees. We strongly condemn the university authority of such irresponsible behavior as an unscrupulous employer, and we strongly oppose the contract-out of the student facilities and sports facilities services.
Frontline contract staff of the student facilities services and the sports facilities services, those who widely known as the staff wearing a yellow POLO shirt with the university badge, mainly work in university facilities management, including classroom bookings, assisting of material bookings, logistics and management, lockers rental and sports facilities management. They have been dedicated staff ever since and widely welcomed by the students. The whole staff team was informed on 8 May that their contracts will not be renewed upon contract completion day, and we have already had our first meeting with the university authority on 14 May.