Thousands of Macau workers protest at casinos for better pay

HONG KONG – More than 7,000 casino workers in Macau took to the streets today (Aug 25) for a seventh time this year to demand better pay and working conditions in the world’s largest gambling hub, the Bloomberg news agency reported.

Members from Macau Gaming Industry Frontline Workers marched through some of the busiest streets in the city and stopped at all of the city’s biggest casinos including Sands China, Galaxy Entertainment Group and SJM Holdings.

This is the largest protest the group has organised this year, said Ms Cloee Chao, secretary general of the labour union.

Ms Chao said the union is demanding a 10 per cent pay increase for all workers below manager’s level, especially for dealers. It is also demanding a rule barring foreign workers from taking dealers’ jobs, and extend smoking bans to all parts of the casinos, said Ms Chao, who’s a pit supervisor at Wynn Macau.

The union, which Ms Chao helped set up in 2012, has about 10,000 members and half of whom are dealers, she said.

The city’s biggest demonstration by casino workers on record took place last October, involving 3,000 protesters, according to a spokesman from Macau’s Government Information Bureau, who asked not to be named citing the bureau’s policy.