Lawmakers’ agenda

Workers in layoff: Lawmaker Lei Chan U thinks that there are ways for the government to know how many workers are currently in a situation of being laid off. Following the statements made by the Chief Executive early this month, who said at the Legislative Assembly that the government had no way to know how many workers were in a situation of being laid off, Lei said a survey done by the Macao Federation of Trade Unions concluded that 56% of the respondents noted that in the last three months, their companies adopted layoff measures between eight to 15 days per month. The lawmaker also added that the evolution of the underemployment rate increased from 0.4% before the Covid-19 pandemic to 5.4% during the pandemic and is currently at 4.5%, which shows about 17,000 people being in a situation of underemployment, that is, in a layoff, unpaid or half-paid holidays.

Employers abusing labor law: Lawmaker Ella Lei says that existing flaws in the labor law have led to several abuse cases from employers. One such case is MASTV where several workers have been waiting for several years for the payment of arrears salaries. The lawmaker noted that although the workers have turned to the Labour Affairs Bureau and presented a formal complaint on the case, the case cannot be solved. According to Lei, part of the problem has to do with the law which allows the late payment of the unpaid salaries. The fine employers are liable to is waived off immediately even before the case reaxhes the courts. The lawmaker calls on the government to revise the norm so as to put pressure on employers.

Participation of Civil Servants in elections: Lawmaker José Pereira Coutinho has expressed disagreement with “verbal warnings” which he says have been occurring, namely on Macau Security Force (FSM) disallowing the members of the FSM to support the constitution of candidacy lists for the Legislative Assembly elections taking place in September.
According to the lawmaker, some chiefs of these forces have been ordering members not to participate in the elections or any election-related activities, claiming the duties of impartiality and neutrality.
Coutinho calls for a written memorandum to explain to all civil servants if they can support candidates or list and participate in campaign activities.