Mexico: In Search of Legal Gaming
In March, the President of the Gaming Sector, Daniel Amoroso; Soledad Gibelli (Secretary of International Relations of ALEARA) and Mr. Antonio Mura (ALEARA’s Legal Counsellor ) travelled to Mexico City and met with fellow workers from SINTOLED to exchange experiences and also to give transparency and a boost to the new legislation on gaming and entertainment halls in the country, which will protect the rights of thousands of gaming workers. They also stressed the importance of the trade union’s affiliation with UNI so that they could work jointly within the International.
We would like to point out that all these subjects were tackled in earnest, which will most likely result in the prompt development of the sector and in the creation of more jobs in the fields of gaming and tourism. Countries must provide a clear and transparent legal framework for this activity so that it may grow steadily and become a source of employment for thousands of people, as it is the case in many parts of the world.
We reached the conclusion that Mexicans need to pass new gaming legislation that sets clear rules for the operation of entertainment and gaming halls, the granting of licenses, the protection of workers' rights (this trade generates nearly 35,000 direct and 100,000 indirect jobs) and the security of customers who visit these halls. So as to keep making progress with the subject, we also met with betting shop representatives who organised a wonderful dinner for us where we could exchange opinions with workers and authorities in said trade.
They also had a meeting with Raúl Plascencia Villanueva, President of the National Committee on Human Rights, because since last year, workers’ rights have become human rights and thus concern this committee. Mr. Plascencia Villanueva offered his unconditional support to UNI.
One his last day in Mexico, Mr. Amoroso was interviewed by Félix Arredondo ─ a renowned journalist in the country ─ and two graphic designers; they mainly talked about the need for the passing of new gaming legislation and UNI's gaming-related activities.