CE vows effort to help local workers

The SAR government will “firmly safeguard local workers’ employment rights and make greater efforts to crackdown on illegal workers”, Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On reiterated Saturday.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a public event, the Chief Executive said society was generally concerned about the Imported Labour Law, which will come into effect today, and also the related administrative regulations and Chief Executive dispatches aimed to complement with the implementation of the law.

He said the government must execute the law and regulations with determination.

“The government will certainly work based on the three principles of protecting local workers’ employment, safeguarding imported labour’s legitimate rights and interests in line with law and the importation of imported labour is only to supplement the shortage of local labour force,” Fernando Chui Sai On told reporters.

The Chief Executive stressed that the SAR government is “determined” to secure jobs for local workers, adding legislative work has been started to formulate administrative regulations regarding proportions of imported to local workers and an exit mechanism for migrant workers in Macau.

The regulations will be discussed within the Social Coordination Standing Committee and afterwards they will be delivered to the Executive Council.

He pointed out that protecting local workers’ rights and interests is the “consensus” of both the government and society.

During the past period of time particularly in the last week after listening to the opinion from related associations, institutes, social figures and the media, the Chief Executive said the SAR government is “very much concerned about the unemployment problem especially the hardships of jobless construction workers”.

Secretary for Economy and Finance Francis Tam Pak Yuen, the Labour Affairs Bureau and the Human Resources Office have introduced a string of measures and given priority to looking after the unemployed in Macau, Fernando Chui Sai On added.

Through training, facilitating employment, registrations and providing emergency financial aid, he said he believed that the authorities could arrange jobs for unemployed workers following the recovery of the economy.

The Chief Executive pledged increased efforts to combat illegal workers and to implement work strictly in line with law.