Despite occasional ups and downs, Macau is still one of the two gambling centers of the world. In other words, the quality of gaming and related services is one of the best in the world.
Hospitality also plays an important role, as hotels in this area are very classy and cozy.
Therefore, people working in this city, especially in the gambling industry, are doing their best to make things happen. That’s one of the main reasons why they demand higher pay and bonuses.
Several hundred employees who demand higher pay and bonuses from their employers in Macau organized a protest led by the New Macau Gaming Staff Rights Association. The main leader was Cloee Chao, who demanded better pay for the workers at Macau, as well as working conditions that would be more favorable for them.
According to the Macau Daily Times, the number of protestors was somewhere between 300 and 500 (reports from protesters and the police differ, with the protesters claiming there were 500 of them).
Protesters Demand Annual Raises
Chao’s speech included several figures depicting a huge revenue climb that Macau achieved in the past period. The point was that the worker’s pay did not increase as much as it should have, and that’s why Chao demanded the lawmakers to make some changes.
At this moment, the workers in Macau receive a 2.5 percent annual increase in salaries, and Chao demanded that this be changed to five percent.
However, bonuses and pay are not the only things the protesters were concerned about. As Chao stated, casinos in Macau are concessionaries and are currently pretty much “arms” of the government. Therefore, protesters want to have the same rights as other government civil servants.
The requests are pretty straightforward. Workers in Macau currently work 48 hours a week, and they want to reduce that. Moreover, they want their annual leave days to be increased.
Finally, the last thing that the association demands is that local employees have identical benefits as non-local employees who are currently enjoying things such as a housing subsidy.
Although the protest did not receive an immediate response from officials, the employees would definitely continue to push their demands forward in the future. Time will tell whether they would succeed in their effort or not.
On the other hand, Macau indeed had a great past year when it comes to overall prosperity. According to Ho Iat Seng, who was recently elected as a Chief Executive of Macau, the territory will aim to reduce its casino dependence in the future.
Moreover, he expects Macau to get closer to mainland China and even be more included in the Greater Bay Project.
Ho Iat Seng did not really mention casino workers or protest in his New Year message. In other words, it seems that Chao will have to continue fighting and organizing new rallies that will gain the attention of casino operators and Macau officials who will take workers’ demands into account.
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