A group of Macau gaming workers from Asian casino developer and operator Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd has asked the city’s Labour Affairs Bureau to mediate talks between the company and table dealers that are demanding job promotions.
The gaming workers, along with members of a labour activist group called New Staff Union of Macau Gaming, on Wednesday met with representatives of the city’s labour department, according to local media reports. The workers last week submitted a petition to Melco Crown demanding more of the company’s ‘high-duty’ dealers in Macau be promoted to pit supervisor positions.
The position of ‘high-duty’ dealer refers to a role with responsibilities between that of ordinary dealer and of pit supervisor. The ‘high-duty’ dealer sometimes performs dealer-related tasks and on other occasions is asked by management to work as a pit supervisor, receiving an extra daily allowance when called to perform supervisor duties.
Labour groups representing the workers have stated that Melco Crown said it would promote ‘high duty’ dealers to pit supervisors after a two-year period in the ‘high duty’ dealer role. Some dealers however have been performing supervisor duties for about five years without being promoted to pit supervisors, claimed Cloee Chao, who heads the New Staff Union of Macau Gaming, in comments published on Thursday in local newspapers.
Another labour activist group, the Forefront of Macao Gaming, said last week that Melco Crown allegedly had promoted fewer than 10 percent of such dealers to pit supervisors.
Melco Crown operates two casinos in Macau, namely at Altira Macau and City of Dreams Macau (pictured). The firm also has a 60-percent stake in casino resort Studio City, due to open on October 27.
The firm has said that staff promotions were based on performance and that the process was transparent, according to a statement quoted by Rádio Macau last week.
Local newspaper Jornal Tribuna de Macau quoted Ms Chao saying that Melco Crown did not address directly the issue raised by the group of dealers. She additionally said that the representatives of the Labour Affairs Bureau had agreed to mediate talks with the casino operator.
