Gaming staff have accused the government of leaving them out of the drafting of Macau’s mid-term gaming review.
They also call on casino operators to take on more social responsibilities such as providing vocational training and promotion opportunities.
Macau’s mid-term gaming review was finally released earlier this month.
The long-waited report analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the city’s gaming operators through eight different checklists.
But some local casino workers claim that their opinions were left unheard during the reviewing process.
They also slammed the report as dull.
“They have never consulted our opinions and I think the entire report is too dull. Many of us were not aware of the report as we are not involved in the drafting process. The government should have widely collected our opinions in the first place,” Wong, a dealer for SJM.
“The government has never approached to us for opinions and I’m not sure if they are fully aware of what difficulties we are facing right now,” adds Lai, an administrative worker for the company running Lan Kwai Fong casino.
“Well, the government simply assigned a university to carry out this report. The report is too single-minded and not comprehensive enough. This is not fair for us because our voices and opinions now remain in the dark,” said Chan, a pit manager at Lan Kwai Fong.
The gaming staff also want companies take on more social responsibility, such as providing more vocational training and career promotion opportunities.
“Tourism industry is crucial to Macau and all of us have to face customers every day, so I would like to see more vocational training on customer service,” said Lai.
“The government has to put more pressure on gaming operators to take on more social responsibility while they consider their license renewal. It’s not our fault, the continuous gaming downturn. They have no courage to fire us but it’s unfair they find excuses so we may lose our jobs,” added Wong.
Lawmaker Ella Lei agrees and says gaming firms can definitely do more than what was suggested in the report.
“Gaming firms have the responsibility and conditions to give more support to their workers, especially vocational training, the flexibility to adjust their work schedules, or some internship opportunities, so that gaming workers can explore what they want to do in their future career since Macau’s gaming industry has now entered into an adjustment period,” she said.
These comments were made on the side-lines of a seminar where gaming experts, scholars and workers were present to discuss the mid-term report.
(Macau News / TDM)
