CUHK Employees General Union

eNews (June 2018)

Editor-in-chief: Chan Yin Ha Vivian | Data: Wong Ka Po | Design and Typesetting: Cheng Chun Wing, Aidan Chau and Dora Lam (e-version) | Translation: Emily Ng

• August, a Good Time
• Special Feature:
  • The Fragmented University
  • Difficulties Faced by Part-time Teachers
  • UGC's Funding Strategies and the Budget Cut that Goes Without Notice
• Member Interview
  • Will There Ever be a Dawn for University Education?
  • Chan Kin-man: An Opened Life
• So Much Garbage at CU

August, a Good Time

Our annual general meeting, AGM, comes in August. This year we will have our biennial election for the executive committee. We trust that our efforts in the past are evident: we have monitored university policies closely and met regularly with the management to discuss them as well as to put forth recommendations for bettering of colleagues’ rights and benefits. We have also carefully selected a range of leisure activities that suits our colleagues’ interests and are friendly to the environment. Here are just some highlights of our work:

Our work in the past two years

Internally:

organised forum on staff medical benefits, campaigned for birthday leave, met with the chairperson of the UGC on the “timesheet” requirement, met with Legco members of the CUHK Council to call for revival of the re-organisation of the Council, participated in the Vice-Chancellor search consultation, monitored outsourcing of campus works, monitored environmental issues on campus, followed up on the casualisation of teaching jobs, organised forums for part-time and contract teachers, handled grievance cases, etc.

Externally:

supported the strike of Hoi Lai Estate cleaning workers, campaigned for collective bargaining rights and monitored labour development of the higher education sector, including participated in solidarity actions in support of the repressed chairperson of the Baptist University Faculty and Staff Union and the contract discontinuations of teaching staff at Poly University.

More daily work is done behind the scene. You might be curious about how this team of fewer than ten can handle all this? Without any personal benefits and glory, why are they doing it? (Very few of you would be able to name them and all costs in liaison or even paying for the lunch of guest speakers are paid out of their own pockets.) Here they tell you why they find it worthwhile: 

By becoming an exco member, you are helping yourself and others

President Lau Sin Nga Ann, Senior Lecturer, School of Biomedical Sciences, joined CUHK in 2008 

I was once under the impression that university unions were mostly after social networking. This impression was changed by the “Name Instructor Right” campaign in 2009, which has brought about changes that are still benefiting lecturer colleagues now. I saw how some of the campaign founders were in fact union exco members and colleagues who were not teaching-track staff like me. I was moved by their ideals and their selfless motivation. Though everyone was busy with their own jobs and diligently fulfilling their own duties, they were at the same time concerned about how university policies were affecting other colleagues. Being one of the luckier ones in terms of working environment and observing the exco members’ genuine care for our colleagues and their rights, I felt compelled to partake and help. So in 2011 I joined the exco and started to help with handling grievance cases and have been president of the Union from 2012. 

Working in the union has allowed me the opportunity to interact with colleagues in different departments, making many friends in the process. As the CUEGU is represented in different university committees and is consulted whenever the university makes any policy changes, I have also been able to have a deeper understanding of this institution that I work at. 

Beyond the campus, CUEGU is also a more established union. Aside from being one of the 90+ affiliates of the Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) (so is the Hong Kong Professional Teachers Union, HKPTU), CUEGU is also a member of the Confederation of Tertiary Institutes Staff Unions (CTISU), of which I am currently treasurer. There I have been able to meet colleagues from other institutions and get to know the development of other universities. 

Our society is getting more absurd every day. At times, I feel like a stranger in this place where I grew up. The university is part of society, its ecology is bound to be influenced by the larger political and social systems. These in fact are also a source of the increasing stress we are feeling here. Are we to accept these changes in silence? What touches me most working in this university is the quiet commitment of our colleagues. It marks a big difference from working in private institutions. We are workers too in the university, but we work with a sense of mission. However, it should not mean that we don’t need reasonable treatment and respect. Are you willing to work with us to make changes to your own working environment? Please believe in your own power and give yourself a chance to understand CU.  

Chief Executive Cho Ngai Lam Alan, Faculty of Medicine

The seeming clichés of “Time flies like an arrow” and “How many meaningful decades can one have” are most appropriate expressions to describe my time at CUEGU. The unreasonable salary cut in 2003 sparked like-minded colleagues to form CUEGU. In retrospect, I have to thank this incident that led me to join CUEGU as a founding member in support of the frontline organisers. Once a quiet supporting member, I have become a core exco member not just out of the sense of righteousness provoked by the unfair pay cut, I was also moved by the selfless efforts of the exco members. More than 10 years have quickly past. During these years, the simple words of "thank you" and a grateful smile of colleagues have been our greatest reward, the best support. 

Some colleagues have asked what qualifications are required to join the exco. Or what kind of training are they supposed to have. Some are also worried they might not have enough time or the right abilities. The truth is, union work is many and varied. All kinds of abilities are welcome. As long as you are inspired to help others and yourself by working in solidarity for reasonable rights, you are the ideal candidate.  

Vice-president Chan Yin Ha Vivian, Senior Lecturer, Independent Learning Centre, joined CUHK in 2006 

I have always been a teacher on contract-term. When I first came to CU, I joined all staff unions there were (!). Eventually, I realised CUEGU’s ideas were the closest to mine. In 2009, I started to become more active in the union because of the “Name Instructor Right” campaign. The campaign successfully pushed the university to take the sensible step of recognising these frontline teaching staff as teachers, naming them lecturers. (Previously, they were called “instructors” and were not “teachers” according to the university statues.) My contracts have always been subject to renewal every two years – now we may think that this is sumptuous treatment already, even though the rules say that contract staff may be converted to continuous appointment after six years. The uncertainty of my own future caused me reluctance despite former CUEGU President Emily Ng repeatedly inviting me to join the exco – invitations that I therefore declined. 

The times are bad. But how can we simply let wickedness eat into our time? My mother died in 2013. In my job I was also encountering certain absurd things, absurd people, feeling deeply the powerlessness of an insignificant individual worker under the overarching system. I came to realise it was now time. The next year I joined the exco. The year 2014 came the territory-wide class boycott, the protests at the government headquarters, the Umbrella Movement. The rest is history. For the campus and society are inseparable, CUEGU never avoids confronting political and social issues. In fact, if you look at history, the labour movement is always a political movement. 

In my capacity as an exco member, I focus more on problems of policies and mechanisms, e.g., performance assessment, appeal mechanism, contract/part-time teachers, and democratisation of university governance, etc. On these, I have been responsible for liaising with colleagues in other universities, leading me to also talk to the press often. I have learnt a lot from colleagues over these four years. Because of the Union, I have also had the chance to meet many co-workers that you can count on. If there is anything worth safeguarding as dear memories in this ten years at CUHK, surely these colleagues and comrades come very first. University education is facing unprecedented challenge right now: frontline teaching is slighted, jobs are ever more precarious, research is all about productivity and numbers, admin burden overloads, freedom is narrowing. This is a time when we need more people with heart to step up for university education.  

Vice-president To Tak Man (Chief To), Worker I, EMO

I joined CUEGU right in 2003 during the salary cut incident. Two years later I joined the executive committee. I joined for a very simple reason: if someone is speaking up for you when you encounter injustice at work, then you should also dedicate yourself to help. For us grassroots staff, if it wasn’t for the union speaking up for us, how else would the university management care about our concerns? To give an example, the first stop of the uphill bus route had been at a rather inconvenient spot. We did not have CUEGU then and some colleagues went to another union, hoping they would raise the issue with the university. We got no response. Why should I join when a union is not helping colleagues out? Same in the salary cut incident. Suffering the biggest cut, the grassroots staff were completely alone without any help. Even those affected less got indignant and decided to form our own union. You can see that this Union is the most dedicated to the interests of all levels of staff, and the most courageous and outspoken. I do not dare to say that we can solve every problem. Sometimes the systems are just so overarchingly repressive. But at least we try our very best to help our colleagues within our capacity. Now the treatment we grassroots workers receive is much improved from before. At least the middle management now would listen to us. They would be more careful with us. This is all thanks to the Union communicating our situations and our needs to the management. In the Union, I am mostly in charge of physical labour work and also liaison among grassroots colleagues. I do all within my ability. The Union needs all kinds of help, all kinds of abilities. One doesn’t have to be the most knowledgeable or have a lot of time. I hope you will all join the Union, join the exco! You need the Union and the Union needs you. 

Secretary Lam Yee Ki Dora (Dora), Project Coordinator, Office of University General Education, joined CUHK in 2005

Soon after joining CU, I was invited by Ms So to join CUEGU. Not long later I was invited to join the exco. I was not very familiar with policy issues then. I was insensitive to figures and numbers. Nor was I interested in “benefits”. But uniquely I didn’t mind too much the trivial admin work; I was “ok” familiar with the logistics of organising activities and interested in web design and typesetting, etc. Other exco members and I nicely complemented each other. So steadily I have performed these roles throughout these years. Our society has experienced waves of turbulence but gratefully our group of naive innocents are all still upholding our original ideals. 

Talking about unionists, I had first imagined them as tough men with headbands around foreheads. But we ourselves are often quite silly in private. Some of us are food lovers, some bookworms; we have technical people, we have also not-so-desperate housewives; some are endless learners, some very good listeners. In the end, we are all very ordinary people. (And it is not bad to be ordinary. Who says that we should always pursue excellence?) But we are also each unique. Together we may be the Mazinger Z! 

Treasurer Owen Oi Ming Emily (Emily Owen), School of Journalism and Communication, joined CU 25 years ago

I’m “old seafood” now as we say in Cantonese! The university has changed so much in this twenty-something odd years. Contract staff were non-existent when I first joined. Everyone was a permanent staff. Overtime was rare, students were much fewer, so were taught master’s degrees. Now the starting salary of newcomers is ever lower. Most of them are on short-term contract and have to simply obey the bosses. 

What was rare occurrence is now taken for granted. A post is of long-term need, but the staff is forever on short-term contracts. Constantly working overtime is the new norm. It has also become acceptable that frontline staff should bear the pressure of a manpower shortage. But has the economy in Hong Kong deteriorated in the last 20 years? Or is the government poorer? Its budget deficit bigger? What we all see is how the government is imposing ever meaner funding policies for the universities. Shall we just accept this as our fate? 

The situation will only get worse if no one comes forth to work for changes. Our working conditions will only be more difficult. Since I joined the exco, I have met tearful colleagues telling their grievances, I have seen people who have developed emotional problems because of stress from their supervisors. This CUHK is foreign to me! My own position is humble. But it doesn’t mean I should pretend I didn’t see the injustice going on. Even though I may not achieve much, but by joining the exco, I hope these oppressed colleagues can at least feel that someone cares for them. This is because I care for CU. I don’t want it to deteriorate further! I hope that one day, CU will once again become warm. Do join us and together paint a better CUHK! 

Exco member Wan Wan Nam (Ah Nam), Artisan, EMO 

I have been working for CUHK for 25 years. I joined the exco for a simple reason. A colleague of mine was an exco member then, who asked me to come to help, so I did. I was already participating in other organisations, helping to organise activities. This has been a main responsibility of mine too since I joined CUEGU. Another reason for joining the exco was that I often heard stories of colleagues being oppressed in our jobs or being treated unfairly. But for their “rice bowls”, they were afraid to speak up. I am a fearless person. I hope to help them speak! Since I joined CUEGU, I have come to recognise that the voice and power of the Union can absolutely help our staff.

Exco member So Yuk Sin Edith (Ms So), Clerk, Department of Philosophy

I am a founding member of CUEGU and naturally became an exco member. CUEGU was founded against the backdrop of an unjust salary cut in 2003. The cut was a classic design of "fattening the top and thinning the bottom". Terms B and C staff suffered a much bigger cut than Terms A staff, the highest cut topping 16% with contract staff having to bear a further 10% cut. A colleague of mine apologetically told me: “It is as if I am getting my pay from your wallet.” We had tried to seek help from another union, who unfortunately acted as if they were representing the university, completely ignoring colleagues’ anxiety and needs. We therefore decided to establish a genuine union that would sincerely work for staff – all staff, and for justice. We were to talk to the university on our own. Various organisations helped make this possible. These included the Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU), the Student Union and the Grassroots Concern Group. Student organisations in CUHK have a good tradition of striving for social justice, so they have always worked closely with us on various issues of university governance and of social justice. 

Within the Union, I am mostly in charge of admin and accounting work and applications for sponsorships, etc. These can appear trivial and time-consuming. I like coming back to work in the union office on Saturdays when I can focus on the tasks. I like talking to our members – you will find how there are many unsung heroes among us. I often ponder how we can create more space for our members to realise their potentials outside of work. We will soon have a new union office. This should be helpful for our member networking.  

Exco member Joyce Cheung

I hope I can serve others with heart and create a beautiful path with faith.

Exco election coming

* The union constitution stipulates that the Exco shall consist of 8-15 members, inclusive of the Chief Executive. For 2016-18, there are 11 exco members (9 remaining after one retired and one left the university). Our hope is that we can have a full house of 15 in the coming term. Aside from the exco, we also need many volunteers in order to effectively fulfil our mission. Tasks range from sub-groups on different policy issues to the organisation of activities. Down to the writing of articles, typesetting, to logistics of events and on-site duties, we need your help.

Please note the following important dates:

Important agenda for the future

• Casualisation and lack of job security for teaching staff
• UGC funding policies
• Democratisation of governance and management at all levels
• Academic freedom and institutional autonomy
• Promotion of a genuinely friendly working environment (e.g., birthday leave, family-friendly work conditions)

It takes your participation for us 
to effectively monitor the functioning of the university 
and
to achieve reasonable rights and conditions.

Other Articles of eNews (Jun 2018)

• August, a Good Time
• Special Feature:
  • The Fragmented University
  • Difficulties Faced by Part-time Teachers
  • UGC's Funding Strategies and the Budget Cut that Goes Without Notice
• Member Interview
  • Will There Ever be a Dawn for University Education?
  • Chan Kin-man: An Opened Life
• So Much Garbage at CU