Hundreds of casino workers, employed by different casino operators, rallied outside The Venetian Macao and walked around the property yesterday. Many of the protesters covered their faces with masks. They demanded that the company cancel the internship positions in its casinos, and that it offer a salary increase of up to 10 percent.
Ieong Man Teng, president of the Forefront of Macau Gaming (FMG), which organized this demonstration, said that if Sands China does not give a satisfactory reply, the casino workers would not rule out further action, including a strike.
People started to gather at around 4 p.m. yesterday outside The Venetian Macao. FMG also prepared some signs for the participants to use during the demonstration.
Ieong Man Teng spoke to the media about the group’s demands before the protest started.
“The major demand this time is related to several departments. Mainly, it is concerned with the internship positions.”
The FMG president claimed that some staff members have been working as interns for a long period of time. Some internship roles even appear to have no end in sight.
“Some staff members are very dissatisfied with the length of the internship period. Some [of our] actions are hence triggered by this issue.”
Ieong Man Teng said that workers are demanding the cancellation of the internship positions. “It is because there is actually no such title that exists in the company. When they are working as interns, the nature of their work is the same as [the work carried out by] those who are [fully employed] dealers, pit supervisors or managers. But the fact is that there is no such position [as an intern within the company structure].”
With regards to salaries, Mr Ieong claimed that the consensus among the employees is that there ought to be a 10-percent increase in salary.
“If you look at how long the gaming industry has been developing and the amount of gaming revenue, the casinos have profited a lot, but our staff members are unable to enjoy the benefits that they should have.”
Ieong Man Teng claimed that their course of action would only escalate if there is no response from Sands China.
“We know that the boss of Sands, Sheldon Adelson, will come to Macau on July 28. If Sands China still does not have a specific response and an answer to our demands, we may escalate our [course of] action on July 28.”
However, he stressed that such a decision must depend on the will of the workers, as well as on the response from Sands China. “If there is no notice [released from Sands China] on July 28, we may take further action that day. It is even [possible] that we will plan a strike.”
Later, he spoke to the protesters and called for solidarity. He said that casino workers in different positions should help each other to fight for better salaries and benefits.
The group then started walking around The Venetian Macao and chanted slogans along the way.
When the protesters had returned to the starting point, they handed a letter to Sands China representatives.
Around three hours after the rally ended, Sands China released a statement, saying that it “regrets that an association has decided to stage a demonstration outside The Venetian Macao.”
The casino operator claimed that it has in place “various communication channels to encourage direct feedback from team members.”
The company also reiterated that there is a “master plan” in place “to improve the team structure and benefits scheme,” and gave several examples of the programs in the master plan that are being launched.
For example, there was a bonus in February in light of the Chinese New Year for all eligible full-time employees; a company-wide five-percent salary increase in March; as well as one month’s additional salary in July for all employees who are at manager grade and below.
Moreover, there were recent promotions for qualified dealers, assistant pit managers and pit managers.
Sands China concluded the statement by suggesting that it will continue to “listen to the opinions and feedback” of its employees.
The Public Security Police claimed that 900 people participated in the event, while the demonstration organizers claimed that 2,000 people joined the protest. Sands China employs around 30,000 people in Macau.
Group submits petition to DSAL
Another casino employee group, the Gaming Employees Association, also handed a petition to the Labour Affairs Bureau two days ago, regarding the difference in salaries between Sands China employees working in the same position. The association said that the wage increase announced by the gaming operator would only cover those croupiers who work 48 hours per week. As a result, some dealers who work 40 hours per week will miss out on the salary increase. It also claimed that some workers are asked to reduce their weekly working hours, which means that their salaries will decrease as well. The association has invited Sheldon Adelson to take part in the meeting between the association, Sands China and DSAL.
TDM condemns “Disturbance of reporters”
The chairman of TDM’s Executive Committee, Manuel Pires, released a statement expressing the local broadcaster’s “strong discontentment over the incident, in which a group of protesters surrounded a TDM vehicle.” He also accused protesters of disturbing TDM reporters with coarse language. The chairman said that TDM considered this behavior an obstruction to the freedom of press. The incident allegedly took place during the walk around The Venetian Macao. Some protesters saw a report on TDM Radio’s website, which claimed that 150 people had gathered for the rally. Some protesters were upset by the number mentioned in the article, which, they believed, did not reflect the truth.
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