MYANMAR: More than 1,000 workers strike for higher pay at a Taiwan-owned factory on the outskirts of Yangon

Record ID: 340662

  • Title: MYANMAR: More than 1,000 workers strike for higher pay at a Taiwan-owned factory on the outskirts of Yangon
  • Date: 23rd February 2012
  • Summary: HLAING THARYAR, YANGON DIVISION MYANMAR (FEBRUARY 22, 2011) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF FACTORY COMPLEX STRIKING WORKERS SITTING ON GROUND WORKERS READING NEWSPAPER WORKERS SITTING ON GROUND VARIOUS OF LABOUR LAWYER PHO PHYU SPEAKING TO WORKERS, WORKERS CHEERING WORKERS LOOKING ON (SOUNDBITE) (Burmese) LABOUR LAWYER AND LEGAL CONSULTANT FOR STRIKING WORKERS, PHO PHYU, S
  • Embargoed: 9th March 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Myanmar, Myanmar
  • Country: Myanmar
  • Topics: Business,Industry,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA9N3CGLS965KB2Z5JZU8T1ZJ77
  • Story Text: Around 1,000 factory workers went on strike outside Yangon, Myanmar, on Wednesday (February 22), demanding higher pay.
    The workers are on the 17th day of their strike at the Taiwanese-owned Tai-yi Footwear Factory in Hlaing Tharyar (pronounced: lang-ta-yah), an industrial zone on the outskirts of Yangon.
    They want their hourly wages doubled to 150 kyat ($0.18 USD) and an increase in their monthly bonus from 6,000 kyat ($7.50 USD) to 8,000 kyat ($10 USD).
    The Tai-Yi workers take home between 60,000 and 70,000 kyat ($75 to $88 USD) a month, including overtime, bonuses and other cash benefits.
    The low wages and severe penalties had long been a source of discontent.
    The workers left the assembly line on February 6 when they learned that five days' worth of wages were deducted for a Lunar New Year holiday which they were forced to take.
    Chinese New Year is usually not observed in Myanmar.
    Labour lawyer Pho Phyu, a consultant for the workers, said their wages were well below regional standards which Myanmar is obliged to adhere to after the Labour Minister signed an agreement at a recent summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
    "Their salaries are not enough for the family's cost of living. This salary is very low for ASEAN standards," said Pho Phyu, who is well-known in the country for representing farmers.
    In the past two years, Yangon's industrial zones have seen a number of strikes as workers protest over wage deductions and poor working conditions.
    "The factory does not want to raise the basic salary because if they do, the overtime pay will increase," said a worker who refused to be identified.
    Suu Suu Nway (su-su-nwey), a volunteer with the International Labour Organisation and member of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, is helping with the negotiations.
    She said company representatives had told her that export revenues have suffered from the depreciation of the U.S. dollar, so they could not afford to give in to the workers' demands.
    "The owner said there is a financial crisis, so they cannot pay higher salaries. That reason is not acceptable. The company is in the wrong, the worker is in the right," Suu Suu Nway said.
    The company had agreed to a 25 kyat ($0.03 USD) increase in the hourly wage, and workers said they would continue the strike until their demands were met.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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