The workers were laid off after leading a failed strike to raise daily wages by less than a US dollar.
A Taiwanese shoe factory in Myanmar that produces global brands including Adidas has refused to reinstate 26 people fired after they led a strike by hundreds of workers calling for an increase of less than a U.S. dollar in daily wages, RFA Burmese has learned.
More than 2,000 employees of the Yangon-based factory owned by Myanmar Pou Chen Co. held a three-day strike beginning on Oct. 25, demanding that their wages be raised to 8,000 kyats (about U.S.$2.50) per day from the 4,800 kyats (about U.S.$1.60) per day they were granted by a federal minimum wage increase four years ago.
At the end of the strike, factory management not only rejected the demands of the workers, but fired the 26 people who had organized the strike for taking an “unexcused absence.” Management later offered a compensation of three-months’ salary to the fired workers, who rejected the deal, saying they only want to be reinstated.
On Dec. 1, Myanmar Pou Chen Co. deposited the monthly salary for October together with 10-days wages it referred to as “severance pay” in the bank accounts of the fired workers. The workers told RFA they plan to return the payment.
“We are not the enemies”
San Yu Hlaing, 22, told RFA that she and the other 25 workers fired by the factory want their jobs back and salary for the month of November.
“We are not the enemies of the factory. Our families can only make ends meet...
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