Casino workers to stage a protest in Macau

Representatives from Love Macau, the Macau Gaining Industry Frontline Workers’ Union and the Association of Rights of Gaming Industry Employees will make a demonstration.

Macau.- Love Macau, the Macau Gaining Industry Frontline Workers’ Union and the Association of Rights of Gaming Industry Employees announced that the three entities will stage a rally on May 1.

Around 500 members from the three organisations will assemble at the Iao Hon Park at four in the afternoon. Then they will depart to the government headquarters at 4.30 p.m to deliver three letters to the Chief Executive. A gathering might take place after the demonstration, said Cloee Chao, a casino dealer and a member of the Association of Rights of Gaming Industry Employees.

Chao noted that expat workers haven’t been hired as dealers so far, as a consequence of a promise made by the government, which assured the public that only locals would work in those positions. However, Leong Lei Kan, an engineer representative, affirmed that half of his co-workers are not local residents. Furthernore, “lack of experience, of degrees or qualifications” has been the reasons companies use in order to explain why their employees were not promoted, according to Leong.

Lei Man Chao, vice president of Love Macau, explained that the aim of the demonstration is to represent the demands of local employees, especially those working for casinos. “A large number of facts are telling us that workers are facing, or will face, unfair employment treatment,” said Lei. “We appeal to gaming companies to increase salaries, to largely reduce the number of expat workers, as well as to prohibit smoking everywhere in the casinos.”