By Yoon Sat - Jul 06, 2024
Most local factories paid 4,800 kyats for a minimum wage of 8 hours a day before and they raised the wages to recircuit workers, but the low-skilled workers did not really entitle the raise.
In Myanmar, the minimum wage is set at 4,800 kyats for 8 hours of work according to the law, and although the law stipulates that it should be increased every 2 years, it is not increased until 6 years later. Last year, the allowance was increased by 1000 kyats, but t factory workers are suffering because it is not a basic wage raise.
"Workers from a lot of factories said that. They don't get raise but only the leaders. The employers only give raises to the highly skilled workers so that they don't leave. They gave them a decent increase in bonuses and professional fees. The other employees don't get it," said a worker.
Regarding the matter of not raising the wages, the members of the Myanmar Paung Chain factory’s trade union also presented to the factory manager to increase the wages and raise the level of leadership. But the manager response that “Some leaders will don’t get raise in daily wages but only the professional fee was increased and they only promote the workers who those who can lead in this difficult time and those who have a lot of language skills. Too many good leaders leave their jobs, so this award is given to keep good leaders from leaving.”
In addition, the minister said that the minimum wage could not exceed 4,800 due to inflation and the factory that raise the wages will be re-inspected and only registered factories will be allowed to raise the wages according to the statement of the union.
“The minimum wage is 4,800 kyats per day. But it may vary according to the factories and that should be. Minimum means you can’t give less than 4,800 kyats but you can give more but I don’t know how the employers understand that. They thinks they are done after giving 4,800 kyats a day. Actually, workplace conditions and workers’ conditions are vary according to the needs. It varies in manufacturing international brands or local brands. They should give the workers the amount they could or else the workers would leave,” said a local labor activist.
In June, some company owners in Yangon raised the wages from 25% to 30% in humanitarian aid due to the rising prices of goods and 7 businessmen were sued for publishing salary increases based on seniority and skills on social networking sites along with the company's name.
In the current situation, workers are recommended by labor observers to improve their skills rather than working so many overtime as the employers will not give a raise to the daily wages, but on other pillars, so the workers do not have to work a lot of hours but to improve the quality of their performance.
