35 OFWs in Macau pursue labor demands
Article posted January 24, 2008 - 03:20 PM
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/77838/35-OFWs-in-Macau-pursue-labor-demands #

Thirty-five overseas Filipino workers on Wednesday met with Macau¡¦s Labor Affairs Bureau (LAB) to press for the speedy resolution of their problems with employer UTS/Guardforce Macau Ltd.

This was the first time OFWs in Macau made such action over labor complaints.

The meeting with the labor bureau took place after a press conference the Filipinos and their supporters had organized.

Legislator Antonio Ng Kouk Cheong and the Mission for Migrant Workers and Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants assisted the workers in the conduct of the activities.

According to the worker¡¦s statement, the 88 OFWs and two Burmese working at UTS/Guardforce Ltd. submitted their complaints to the LAB on September 11, 2007. The bureau has not taken any action since then.

The LAB said it is still in the process of analyzing the case, and that the process might take longer time to conclude than was expected.

Majority of the workers have contracts that would end on May 31, 2008.

OFWs complained they are not covered by the Macau Labor Law, which grants local and permanent resident workers Long Service Payment system.

Under the payment scheme, employers compute salaries according to the length of service. But they base migrant workers¡¦ salaries on the date the last contract was signed.

Saying that the scheme is unfair, the OFWs noted that most of migrant workers in UTS/Guardforce Ltd. have been in the firm for over 10 years.

Moreover, they complained that if they signed the new contract for another six months (January - May 2008) being offered by the firm, their ¡§long service pay" would only be a half-year period.

If they did not, their salaries would be based on their 2007 contracts.

In the dialogue, the LAB said it will determine if the new contract being offered was fair.