Gaming concessionaires salaries to rise up to 3%, Secretary says

The gaming concessionaires workers’ salaries should be raised next year by at least 2 or 3%, the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lei Wai Nong, said yesterday at the Legislative Assembly (AL).

Lei was responding to several lawmakers while at the AL to present more detail from the sector of economy and finance about the 2024 Policy Address.

Lei told the lawmakers who raised the topic, including Lei Chan U, Ella Lei and José Pereira Coutinho, the government knows next year will see pay increases in this sector.

“We can’t force the gaming concessionaires to raise their workers’ salaries [as they are private entities]. But we have been advising them this would be a good time for sharing their profits among their workforce. We believe the salaries [of this sector] will grow by at least 2 or 3%. We know this will certainly happen,” the Secretary affirmed.

The pay rise from the gaming companies has been a hot topic since the government announced well ahead of the presentation of the Policy Address, in mid-August, that civil servants will receive a raise from January 2024.

At the same opportunity and also at the AL, the Chief Executive (CE), Ho Iat Seng, also called on the gaming concessionaires, which are the six major employers besides the government, to take this opportunity to increase their workers’ salaries.

“I can only negotiate with the gaming concessionaires and hope that post-pandemic they can assume their social responsibilities. We can and will follow up on this matter, but we cannot order them to do so. This we cannot do, as the government cannot interfere in the market,” the CE remarked.

Lawmakers from the Macau Federation of Trade Unions, including Lei Chan U and Ella Lei, have repeatedly called for gaming sector salary increases.

The first calls for increases came in late July, when the salary increase for civil servants and the gaming sector were called essential to set an example for the whole private sector to follow.

This was an attempt to link with the so-called “silent majority” of private sector workers in Macau’s small and medium enterprises, from varied sectors, not represented at the AL.

On a related topic, several lawmakers, including Pereira Coutinho and Ella Lei, noted the percentage amount of salary increase, particularly after more than three years without increases and with many difficulties during the pandemic, is insufficient to restore families’ purchasing power where the prices of essential good and fuels have risen exponentially.

Secretary Lei said the government’s focus is economic recovery so companies can see profits again that can eventually be shared among society.

Meanwhile, Lei said MOP216 gross gaming revenue (GGR) can be achieved in 2024, higher than the earlier forecast of MOP202.4 billion.