Social worker group slams IAS for lack of communication

The Macao Social Workers’ Union criticized the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) yesterday for its lack of communication with the group about the issue of worker confinement.

Yesterday, the group held an online press conference to discuss the matter.

Coincidentally, 11 minutes before the commencement of the press conference, IAS issued a press release, stating that only a handful of care facility staff who are currently under confinement in their workplaces desired alternative measures.

It stated that out of the 1,800 such workers, 30% are local and the other 70% are non-local. Of the local workers, “some wanted point-to-point (P2P) closed-loop arrangements or to take turns for closed-loop, [arrangements]” the bureau noted.

‘Closed-loop’ is the official term the government used to refer to a system in which workers are not permitted to go home after work. They are either accommodated in hotels, as some medical staff are currently doing, or sleep at their workplaces, like many care facility workers.

Despite the small number of requests, the IAS said it would try to accommodate workers who preferred a closed-loop arrangement.

The social worker union, meanwhile, said at the press conference that they had no idea about the press release and had not been consulted prior to its release.

In addition, the IAS said that management at facilities had been notified that the IAS will accommodate workers who seek alternative arrangements, but received feedback that most workers consider their facilities’ security more important than their own wellbeing.

Despite this, the union was unconvinced, in light of the requests it had received.

For example, it pointed out that an IAS guideline issued to all care facilities was not accessible to frontline workers to the union’s knowledge, let alone the public. A crucial provision that allows workers already under confinement to change their minds, according to the union, was not clearly put forward to frontline staff.

However, “IAS is proactively following-up on subsidies for facility workers currently under confinement,” the bureau noted. No information has been announced yet regarding how much will be distributed and the way in which this will occur, including the strategy to ensure the money will benefit workers directly.