Hunger for MPF payments

Nearly 100 Macau civil servants staged a hunger strike yesterday, demanding a broader Monetary Provident Fund scheme.

Led by legislator Jose Coutinho, the civil servants and a small number of non-government workers sat in Senado Square from 1pm to 9pm. Most of the protesters, in their 40s or 50s, worked on short-term contracts for the government and had been excluded from the MPF scheme. They demanded the government make back payments of MPF contributions for the time they had worked as civil servants. Mr Coutinho said more than 6,500 civil servants were affected.