Workers from the Tsang Yih shoe factory in Hlaing Tharyar Industrial Zone, who had been protesting for nearly a week to demand higher wages, have reached an agreement with the factory management, according to some of the workers.
Beginning on May 14, approximately 5,000 workers had been demanding a daily wage increase to Kyats 12,000. Up until May 19, the factory had only offered a Kyat 900 raise, prompting continued protests. It was only by 6 p.m. on May 20 that the factory agreed to meet some of the workers' demands.
"Now, all the workers are happy," one worker said. "Some of the protest days will be unpaid. However, May 14 and May 17 will be counted as designated factory holidays. We will only lose wages for May 15, 16, 19, and 20. Workers have accepted this. And we’ll get our full daily wage going forward. The employer agreed to our segmented demands. The regular daily wage of Kyats 40,000 will only be affected if workers are absent for four days. The original Kyats 30,000 base amount will remain unchanged. Workers have agreed to this as well.”
"We also requested a daily support allowance of 5,000 Kyats, but the employer didn’t approve the full amount. Instead, they offered 3,800 Kyats per day, which totals over 100,000 Kyats per month. This is additional support and doesn’t include costs for rice and oil already provided by the factory."
“Previously, our base daily wage was 5,200 Kyats. The employer has now increased it by 600 Kyats, making it 5,800 Kyats. When the daily wage goes up, the OT (overtime) rate also increases. Our previous OT rate was 1,636 Kyats. With the 600 Kyats raise, it has now become 1,825 Kyats. So, in effect, our demand for a daily wage of 12,000 Kyats has been fulfilled. The workers are all very happy,” the worker added.
As a result of this agreement, workers will resume work starting from 7 a.m. on May 21. The new wage rates will come into effect beginning June 1.
The Tsang Yih shoe factory, located in the Hlaing Tharyar Industrial Zone, is known for producing Adidas-branded footwear. It is reported that each worker on the production line manufactures over 150 pairs of shoes per day.
