The Legislative Assembly has approved the final version of a bill that will regulate trade unions in Macao over the strong objections of two lawmakers.
José Pereira Coutinho and Che Sai Wang abstained from voting on the bill, the Macau Daily Times reports. The men, both linked with the Macao Public Servants Association (a union), have criticised the Trade Union Bill for its failure to include the right to strike and to make allowances for collective bargaining.
The law will also prohibit non-resident workers from establishing trade unions in Macao, which Coutinho and Che see as problematic. Migrant workers make up nearly half of the local labour force.
“[The bill] does not take into account many aspects that we have alerted the government to,” Che said. He added that the new law, as it stands, will neither “empower the workers” nor improve current regulations around the establishment and activities of trade unions.
[See more: Macao aims to ban foreign workers from forming trade unions]
The new law will take effect on 31 March 2025, to allow existing workers’ groups time to adjust to the new rules.
Labour rights in Macao came under stiff criticism last year, from both the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the US State Department.
The UN committee found that workers in Macao were “not adequately covered by labour and social protection laws.” Washington, meanwhile, accused the local government of interfering “in the functioning of workers’ organisations”.
Officials in Macao have refuted the allegations.
