By Min Ni Kyaw - May 09, 2025
Workers have been injured and killed at workplaces following the recent earthquake, and rights violations have also occurred, according to a central executive committee member from the All Burma Federation of Trade Unions (ABFTU).
“There are violations happening. Workers who were seriously injured have not received any financial support for medical treatment. Their families are bearing the expenses. Workers have returned to their hometowns since many factories are temporarily closed. They are worried about whether they will be rehired once factories reopen. At one factory in Mandalay, the dormitory where workers were staying collapsed underground. Those on night shifts and those in the basement didn’t survive. The employer didn’t allow rescue teams in. They handled everything internally, poured concrete, and never retrieved the bodies. The factory denied those workers were employed there when their families asked,” he said.
In the Mandalay region, worker deaths are high, and with many collapsed factories still unrecovered, ABFTU is still collecting information from affected members, and the death toll is expected to rise. He added that factories are only planning small condolence payments in response to these deaths.
“They’re just planning condolence money for the deceased. Nothing has been provided so far. Factories with fewer deaths are giving only small gestures of sympathy. Those with higher casualties had no emergency preparedness in place,” the committee member added.
According to ABFTU’s latest records, over 30 workers have died and around 150 have been injured.
20 workers died and 70 were injured at J.L.P.C. textile factory in Baelin village, Singu Township. 3 workers died and 8 were injured at the Mama noodle factory in Thabat Swel village, Puleik Township. 12 workers were injured at the E.A.P.C. beverage factory in the same township. 4 workers died and 28 were injured at the Yatha Kaung candy factory In Pyigyitagun Township, and 4 more workers died and 36 were injured at the Sweet Home mattress factory, according to ABFTU’s central executive committee member.
Photo - Irrawaddy Foundation
