Legislative Assembly | Sulu Sou proposes amendment to include trade union rights

Despite the failure of his colleagues to pass any of the 10 previously submitted trade union bills at the Legislative Assembly (AL), lawmaker Sulu Sou submitted a similar proposal yesterday to the legislature.

Instead of proposing a new bill, Sou requested to amend the existing Law 4/98/M, which provides a basic framework governing employment policy and safeguarding labor rights.

Sou proposed the addition of several labor rights, including the right to organize and join labor unions which offer collective bargaining, and allow for labor strikes.

These rights will have to be protected and regulated by specific legislation, and the bill would also mandate that the exercise of these rights must be protected by future legislation.

The lawmaker said he is not playing with the procedures, as he explained that in 1998, Law 4/98/M had already inscribed a provision – Item C, Article 7 – that guarantees a minimum wage and its regular adjustment.

According to Sou, at that time, even though there was no consensus with regard to the implementation of the minimum wage policy, the legislature accepted the inclusion of the provision in the legal framework.

On the other hand, labor’s rights to forming or joining a trade union and starting a strike are protected by both the Basic Law and pertinent international treaties to which Macau is a signatory.

Sou emphasized that Macau is the only place in China where such rights are not protected by dedicated legislation. He insisted that the government has the constitutional responsibility to realize such protection.

Additionally, Sou quoted that the Committee which proposed the legislation in 1998 had specifically set forth the intention to add labor rights into the law. As such, Sou thought that this amendment could achieve the same goals by first concentrating labor rights into a single law to stress their value, and secondly making it harder to limit or abolish such rights, as he stressed that having dedicated legislation on trade union rights should be a goal and duty of the SAR.

The lawmaker is confident that his proposal will proceed to the plenary agenda, as he claimed that it is supported in principle by a number of his colleagues, including those who voted against previous trade union bills.

Their main concerns on this bill are the details, technicality, and timing of the legislation. Therefore, he considered it was about time the administration, legislature, and society as a whole commence discussion on the matter. Staff reporter