A labor group representing casino floor workers employed by Macau’s SJM Holdings met with government officials last week in an attempt to resolve a running dispute with the operator over pay and working conditions.
A week after leading a job action at the company’s flagship Grand Lisboa, Forefront of Macau Gaming brought more than 100 workers to the Labor Affairs Bureau to address demands for “improvement in the remuneration and benefits system of SJM,” said FMG head Ieong Man Teng.
The company’s sick policy is another sore point, according to Ieong, who said SJM restricts the list of doctors or clinics that employees may visit when unwell and that notes from doctors or clinics not on the approved list are not accepted.
Last Saturday, some 600 workers at Grand Lisboa called out sick and many purposely showed up late for work and refused to work overtime in the first industrial action against the company founded by legendary casino tycoon Stanley Ho.
The job action has spread to other SJM casinos, Ieong said.
The union had planned a more dramatic protest in which dealers would refuse to distribute chips at the tables but called it off after SJM promised to pay two annual bonuses for the next five years. The bonuses equate to between one and a half and two months’ salary.
But employees remain unsatisfied, they say, as their core issues—wages and equal pay for equivalent jobs—have not been addressed. Ieong said SJM salaries for croupiers range between 16,000 and 19,000 patacas per month (US$2,000-$2,375). Workers want around 19,000 to 21,000.
Forefront last month organized a demonstration outside the human resources offices of SJM. The group also has staged public protests against Sands China and Galaxy Entertainment Group and last month led a march against all six operators. Forefront claims 7,000 workers participated. Police put the number at 1,400.
Union activist Cloee Chao, meanwhile, has suggested more militant action is possible. “We don’t rule out strikes or violent actions if the casino companies continue to ignore us and pretend nothing has happened,” she told Bloomberg.
Along with higher salaries, common demands include better working conditions and a blanket ban on smoking. Croupiers also want a guarantee their jobs will not go to foreigners. At present, those jobs are open only to permanent residents as a matter of government policy. The city, however, has one of the world’s lowest unemployment rates, at 1.7 percent, and most analysts believe the market will be hard-pressed to supply enough labor to staff the seven or eight new resorts slated to open over the next three years. The new openings could add 2,400 or more new table games to the market, each table requiring a complement of around six dealers. Barclays estimates the industry will need an additional 14,000 to 17,000 dealers to staff the expansion and 35,000 other workers.
Deutsche Bank says the industry’s cost of labor will probably jump 10 percent to 15 percent annually over the next few years. For while Macau doesn’t have a collective bargaining law, the restrictive policy on migrant workers gives locals enormous leverage, and it’s going to impact margins.
As of June 30, the industry employed 57,550 full-time workers, according to official data. Of those, 25,727 were dealers, who earn an average monthly wage of 17,530 patacas.
