The new Union for the Protection of the Employment Rights of Local Workers announced yesterday, at the office of grassroots lawmakers Au Kam San and Ng Kuok Cheong, that it will organise a protest march on December 20, the anniversary of the 1999 establishment of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR), urging the government to give priority to the employment of local residents.
The union’s President Wang Weize and several members jointly presided over yesterday’s press conference about the march. Wang told reporters: “[We] urge [the government] to protect locals’ employment rights. We should not be [employers’] second choice,” adding his union hoped the government will reduce the number of non-resident workers.
Wang also said his union did not want the government to wait for three years before it implements a statutory minimum wage for construction workers and employees of the catering and retail industries. Instead, the government should implement it as soon as possible, according to Wang.
The president of the Union for the Protection of the Employment of Local Workers, Wang Weize (right), and Chairman Loi Fai Long address yesterday’s press conference at grassroots lawmakers Au Kam San and Ng Kuok Cheong’s joint office in Areia Preta. Photo: Debby Seng
