Macau labour group urges blacklist of abusive gamblers

Aug 01, 2016 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck  

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A Macau gaming labour group has urged the local government and casino operators to blacklist gamblers that have a record of being aggressive towards dealers, in a bid to protect those casino workers from confrontational situations.

The director general of the Macau Gaming Enterprises Staff’s Association, Choi Kam Fu, said the association had received at least six reports from dealers – in the past three months – saying they had been targeted by aggressive customers. The labour group is affiliated with the influential Macau Federation of Trade Unions.

“Some [dealers] complained that the gambler threw cards in their faces; others report having been spat at, or even being slapped in the face,” Mr Choi told GGRAsia.

Mr Choi declined to name the casinos where the reported abuse took place, but noted that most of the gaming venues concerned were located in the NAPE district of the Macau peninsula.

“Whether it’s from the [gaming] companies or the government, there should be a mechanism in place that ban the gamblers [that have a record of aggression toward dealers] from entering the casino again,” said Mr Choi. “We don’t know if they will again target the dealer,” he added.

The Association for Gaming Professionals, another Macau gaming labour activist group,  has scheduled a meeting with the Labour Affairs Bureau on August 22 to discuss cases where casino patrons have confronted dealers. The association says it has about 1,000 members that are mostly employed at table games in Macau’s casinos, according to its president Cloee Chao.

Ms Chao said her group will ask for more active involvement from the government and gaming companies to protect dealers from customers that either have a history of violence or that could potentially be aggressive toward casino staff.

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