The Legislative Assembly (AL) rejected yesterday for the 11th time a trade union bill.
The latest version of the bill was submitted by lawmakers Lam Lon Wai and Lei Chan U, both members of the Macau Federation of Trade Unions (generally known as Gung Luen, its Cantonese name).
Most of the 16 legislators who rejected the bill said that it should be the government that comes up with a trade union bill. Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong told reporters last week that the government was ready to draft a trade union bill in due course.
Only nine lawmakers voted for the bill, while seven abstained. As is customary, the speaker of the legislature refrained from voting.
A total of 11 trade union bills by various lawmakers have been submitted to the legislature since the founding of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) in December 1999.Macau is the only jurisdiction in China that still does not have a trade union law – unlike the Chinese mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, the legislature yesterday also turned down a bill by non-establishment legislator Sulu Sou Ka Hou on the interpretation of the legal system regulating closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras, also known as video surveillance, in public spaces. Only four lawmakers backed the bill.
