A group of Macau casino workers – mostly dealers – participated in a demonstration on Monday, calling for stricter control on smoking at the city’s gambling venues. The protest was organized by the New Macau Gaming Staff Rights Association. It started at 4:30 pm local time at the World Trade Center in Zape. Protesters marched all the way through the Government Headquarters in Nam Van.
In a petition handed to the Smoking Prevention and Control Office of the Macau Health Bureau, workers requested stricter controls on smoking at casino premises and argued that the city’s recently introduced Tobacco Prevention and Control Law has been violated repeatedly both by casino players and the casinos themselves.
The new law took effect in January this year, but some of its provisions are set to be enforced on January 1, 2019 or precisely a year after its original implementation. Generally speaking, the new law bans smoking at the gaming floor except for specially adjusted smoking lounges.
Prior to the implementation of the latest version of the law, smoking at the gaming floor was allowed in smoking areas and smoking lounges only. It was banned in mass-market areas, while VIP players were allowed to smoke in designated areas in the VIP rooms.
Following the enforcement of the amended law, casinos were given one year (until January 1, 2019) to set up special smoking lounges that meet the new standards.
New Law Repeatedly Violated
Workers said during yesterday’s demonstration that they believe casinos will allow players to continue smoking in prohibited areas, despite the new regulations. Staff members further pointed out that some casinos currently allow patrons to smoke in places around the gaming floor where smoking is prohibited and that workers are even prohibited from telling customers that the areas they smoke in are actually prohibited ones.
Demonstrators asked for stricter controls and for penalties for casino operators that violate the new law. Under the new rules, customers who breach them are facing penalties of MOP1,500. The petition filed by the casino workers asked for operators to be penalized, too, if violations are spotted at their gambling venues. The introduction of a MOP15,000 fine on gambling companies was one of the measures staff members asked for in their petition to the Health Bureau.
Protesters also handed a petition addressed to Macau Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On. That petition dwelt on the fact that tips from customers are no longer publicized by casinos. Workers said in their petition that back in the 2000s the practice was for casino companies to disclose how much tips workers had collected and to use those for organized activities for their employees. That practice was later on abandoned.
Casino staff members asked the city’s top official to review the issue and address it so that shared tips are brought out and distributed among workers.
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