Lawmaker-cum-restaurateur Andrew Chan Chak Mo, who chairs the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) 2nd Standing Committee which is reviewing the government-initiated trade union bill, said yesterday that the government has submitted a new version of the bill proposing that only local employees will be allowed to organise and establish trade unions.
Chan briefed reporters after the committee held a meeting yesterday to review the bill. No government officials attended yesterday’s meeting.
The bill’s outline was passed by a plenary session in January last year, after which it was passed to the 2nd Standing Committee for article-by-article review.
The bill’s initial version proposed that all workers employed by Macau’s employers would be allowed to organise and establish trade unions. A trade union must be established by at least seven employees.
According to Chan, the bill’s latest version submitted by the government proposes that all the seven required employees to establish a trade union must be Macau residents aged at least 18, which means that non-resident workers (NRWs) will not be allowed to organise and establish a trade union.
Chan said that the new proposal means that non-resident workers will only be allowed to join trade unions that have been set up by local employees.
Chan said that his committee will ask government officials including Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong to attend the next meeting to explain the government’s rationale for proposing the new rule.
Lawmaker-cum-restaurateur Andrew Chan Chak Mo (right), who chairs the legislature’s 2nd Standing Committee, and legislator-cum-unionist Lam Lon Wai, the committee’s secretary, pose for photos during yesterday’s media briefing. – Photo courtesy of TDM
