More than 500
factory workers in Kyauktada Township, Yangon Region staged a May Day
protest calling for immediate changes to the minimum wage.
The protesters, who
were given a permit for the demonstration, shouted slogans and carried
banners which read, ‘to get a minimum wage of Ks 5600 for a day’s
eight-hour work’, ‘nominating permanent workers as salary work’, and
‘unity of all workers’.
At the same time, the
workers also called for amendment of the 2008 Constitution, including
such as sections as 436, 59 (F), 261, 418, 6 (F), 17 (B), and 60 (B).
The procession set off
from Mahabandoola Park St and paraded along Mahabandoola St, Pansodan
St, Merchant St, and in the vicinity of Sule Pagoda.
“The workers have lost
their rights at every age,” said lawyer Oo Htay, of the Myanmar
nationwide network of union workers. “In this democratic age of
transparency, the workers are losing rights, too. We can’t say it is the
age of transparency if the democratic government is unable to fix the
minimum wage for the sake of workers.
“What the workers in
the entire country are now facing is low pay and the continual loss of
rights specified by labour law. The government should fix the workers’
wages as soon as possible,” he said.
The protest was led by Myanmar’s nationwide network of union workers and joined by some members from democracy activist groups.
“We are not only
earning a poor salary, but also losing many other labour rights,” said
protester Kyu Kyu Win, who works in a shoe factory. “Although we have
complained about this to the Ministry of Labour, they did not take any
action to solve it. Even if we work days of overtime, we earn just US$
83 a month,” he said.
Workers
from factories have been holding strikes in front of their respective
businesses till now to protest against low wages and the loss of labour
rights.
http://www.elevenmyanmar.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5938:workers-in-kyauktada-stage-may-day-protest-over-minimum-wage&catid=44:national&Itemid=384
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