Myanmar Engages New Committee To Assess Its Minimum Wage Policies
Dailycsr.com – 30 April 2017 – According to Brian Collett, Myanmar based committee will be taking the “first steps” to set a minimum wage level. It is a “highly-powered” committee, a new venture of the government, which is tasked with setting the “basic policies” that would establish the “minimum wage levels” in turn.
The members of the committee will consist of experts from finance field, ministry officials, workers, and industry leaders like “Myanmar Garment Entrepreneurs’ Association” that represents one of the “biggest foreign income” generator of the country. In the year of 2015, the previous government had set the minimum wage levels to “3,600 kyat” on a daily basis which equals to “$2.65”.
Complaints came from the workers as the government staff was better paid than them, whereby they kept the demand for raising the minimum wage level to “5,600 kyat a day”. Nevertheless, the present minimum wage standard of “3,600 kyat” has also led to the closure of “some factories” as the “employers could not afford to pay it”.
While, Collett also added:
“In the garment industry there have been allegations of child labour and excessive overtime, sometimes forced or unpaid, as well as inadequate wages. In the development of industrial zones land rights are said to have been violated”.
Amid the minimum wage committee’s initiation, the worker dispute continues at “Chinese-owned Hundred Tex Garment factory in Yangon”, as the latter demand “outstanding overtime payments” along with “better working conditions” as it has been reported that:
“Many staff have been earning less than the minimum wage and have not received due overtime payments and skills bonuses”.
The employers failed to abide by their agreement, claims the workers’ union, while the former seem to be withholding the formation of “a workplace co-ordination committee”, which is a given requirement under “Myanmar’s labour laws”. Until the dispute at the Hundred Tex Garment” factory reach a satisfactory settlement, the H&M Swedish Fashion House will maintain its frozen contract status with the former.
IndustriALL’s Textile Director, Christina Hajagos-Clausen, said:
“The employer is clearly not respecting the outcome of the negotiations in December. There seems to be a lack of good faith from their part and we urge them to engage in dialogue and resolve the conflict.”
References:
ethicalperformance.com
The members of the committee will consist of experts from finance field, ministry officials, workers, and industry leaders like “Myanmar Garment Entrepreneurs’ Association” that represents one of the “biggest foreign income” generator of the country. In the year of 2015, the previous government had set the minimum wage levels to “3,600 kyat” on a daily basis which equals to “$2.65”.
Complaints came from the workers as the government staff was better paid than them, whereby they kept the demand for raising the minimum wage level to “5,600 kyat a day”. Nevertheless, the present minimum wage standard of “3,600 kyat” has also led to the closure of “some factories” as the “employers could not afford to pay it”.
While, Collett also added:
“In the garment industry there have been allegations of child labour and excessive overtime, sometimes forced or unpaid, as well as inadequate wages. In the development of industrial zones land rights are said to have been violated”.
Amid the minimum wage committee’s initiation, the worker dispute continues at “Chinese-owned Hundred Tex Garment factory in Yangon”, as the latter demand “outstanding overtime payments” along with “better working conditions” as it has been reported that:
“Many staff have been earning less than the minimum wage and have not received due overtime payments and skills bonuses”.
The employers failed to abide by their agreement, claims the workers’ union, while the former seem to be withholding the formation of “a workplace co-ordination committee”, which is a given requirement under “Myanmar’s labour laws”. Until the dispute at the Hundred Tex Garment” factory reach a satisfactory settlement, the H&M Swedish Fashion House will maintain its frozen contract status with the former.
IndustriALL’s Textile Director, Christina Hajagos-Clausen, said:
“The employer is clearly not respecting the outcome of the negotiations in December. There seems to be a lack of good faith from their part and we urge them to engage in dialogue and resolve the conflict.”
References:
ethicalperformance.com
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