By Min Ni Kyaw - May 18, 2025

A document showing that the Tsang Yih Footwear factory — which manufactures Adidas-branded footwear — agreed to raise daily wages by only 900 kyats has been circulating on social media, sparking concern among workers.

The factory and worker representatives had previously reached an agreement regarding demands for increases to daily wages, overtime rates, seniority bonuses, and attendance incentives. According to the document, the agreement was signed in the presence of officials from the Hlaing Thar Yar Township (West) Labour Department.

The document indicates that the agreement was reached with nine worker representatives, and that the factory raised the daily wage from 7,600 kyats to only 8,500 kyats — a 900-kyat increase, far short of the workers’ initial demand for 12,000 kyats.

While the attendance bonus was increased to a total of 40,000 kyats, the factory refused to raise the overtime rate, leaving it unchanged.

Seniority bonuses were adjusted on a tiered basis, starting from 5,000 kyats and going up to 60,000 kyats depending on the worker’s length of service.

The agreement also states that no further wage-related demands can be made for one year, and that the new wage structure will go into effect starting from June.

The protest at the factory began on May 14, and the factory temporarily suspended operations to reach the settlement in an effort to stop further protests according to the document.

The authenticity of the agreement has not yet been independently verified, and Myanmar Labour News is currently attempting to contact workers to confirm their position and response.

Tsang Yih factory employs over 6,200 workers, most of whom participated in the protest. Meanwhile, workers at the Myanmar Pon Chen factory, also located in the Thadukan Industrial Zone and manufacturing Adidas footwear, have submitted a demand for a daily wage increase to 13,000 kyats.