Macau

Beginners Trade Union Guide to Macau [Macao]

Despite a growth in GDP of some 28 percent in 2004 and its recent entry into the UN World heritage Site, Macau remains a little known territory compared to its big sister Hong Kong. While freedom of association is respected and strikes are legal, most trade unions are organized in a pro-Beijing grouping and strikes remain rare despite long working hours, poor wages, and a lack of collective bargaining and written work contracts.  

Background (extract)

Macau is located on the southern coast of China within the Pearl River Delta, some 35 miles west of Hong Kong. In 2004 Macau had an approximate population of 454,300.   Macau is 8.6 square miles and comprises of a peninsula of Guangdong province and the islands of Taipa and Coloane. In the 1500s Macau was settled by the Portuguese, becoming a de facto Portuguese colony in the mid 1880's.

Macau faltered in the 1900's when its economy stagnated and it was by and large ignored by its colonial master. In 1967 and 1974 Portugal tried to hand Macau back to the mainland government but it was not until 1987, after the Hong Kong – China agreement had set a precedent that China agreed to take the colony back.   The Joint Declaration on the Question of Macau set 20 December 1999 as the date on which China would resume sovereignty over Macau.