By Editor - May 11, 2024
The global-famous Pepsi soft drink factory is also located in Myanmar too. It locates at the Mawbe Township and manufacturing soft drinks.
Let us tell you an incident.
On October 31, 2022, U Thaung Han, a worker who had been working at the Pepsi factory for over 20 years, was dismissed by the factory on the grounds that he was too old.
There was no compensation. The worker demanded to take responsibility for such irresponsible actions.
They negotiated 3 times in the township mediation and the arbitration panel. But no settlement has been reached even after negotiating at highest mechanism of labor dispute resolution, the Arbitration Council.
Complaints were made to relevant labor offices, but the labor office issued a letter to file a lawsuit.
There are various mechanisms under the Ministry of Labor for labor disputes. But the officials of the labor office have transferred it to the court to charge.
Despite repeated negotiations and no settlement, the supervisor or stakeholder had to issue a letter to file a lawsuit but because of the delay, the plaintiff requested several times and a letter was issued to sue on March 21, 2023
The existence of the labor offices in Mawbe Township, which cannot even resolve the grievances of one worker, is questionable.
Now, the judge has ordered the worker to file a lawsuit against the CEO, HR, and the Pepsi company.
The trial will be held on May 23rd, and there have been 22 trial dates that worker U Thaung Han attended.
After the case filed by former worker U Thaung Han was conducted at the Mawbe District Court, the judge ordered the company to be sued as an extension of the lawsuit on April 3.
The trial was scheduled for May 9th for the company to resubmit the prepared motion, but the it was rescheduled for the 23rd as the employer was not ready yet.
"Pepsi despite being a popular soft drink brand does not prohibit labor rights violations. Until now, they continues to use the strategy of delaying until the worker can’t afford the expenses anymore.
There are many people who have had their rights violated like U Thaung Han, but they have retreated out of fear of the entrepreneur. Solidarity of Trade Unions, Myanmar, STUM requests Pepsi drinkers from all over the world not to use Pepsi products to prevent further violations like U Thaung Han's.,” said STUM, the organization helping the case.
The Pepsi factory dismissed senior workers without compensation, and sales staff were also layoffed in the same way due to not meeting sales targets. There are also international campaigns to stop drinking Pepsi as it is committing labor rights violations.
It can also be seen from this incident that the Pepsi factory's dismissal of a senior employee without any compensation is a serious violation of human rights and not having ability to guarantee the future of the worker.
A Myanmar national has been facing the unfair battle for more than 1 year just because of a dismissal. A little justice is needed for an aging ex-worker in Burma, who is full of difficulties.
Are you still drinking Pepsi?
