Editorial: Protecting Myanmar’s Workers Is a Full-Time Job

By DMG 09 Aug 2022

Basic workers are an essential part of a country’s labour force, so much so that every country has drafted and implemented laws to protect workers, though admittedly the extent to which workers are protected can vary considerably from one nation to the next. 

In Myanmar, among the legislation that exists to protect workers is the Employment Compensation Law. Revised in 2018, the law is not perfect, but it has commendable components. The Employment Compensation Law 2018 sets basic workers’ daily wages and includes occupational injury insurance; both important protections, especially for those on the lower rungs of the income ladder. 

At present, however, basic workers in Myanmar are still not enjoying their full legal rights. Workers at tea shops and restaurants, for example, are too often deprived of their fundamental rights under the law. 

Even workers who draw a government paycheck are being exploited: Municipal employees — such as the garbage collectors who are essential to the functioning of our urban centres — are among those who do not receive the daily minimum wage of K4,800 set by the government. This is all the more galling when one considers the fact that these workers are typically expected to work more than eight hours a day.  

In neighbouring Thailand, the daily wage is set at about 330 baht (depending on the province), and if a citizen is asked to work for a day, they are rightly paid that amount. At the current exchange rate, 330 Thai baht is equivalent to more than K19,000. 

Add to that the relative stability of commodity prices in Thailand compared with Myanmar, and it is little wonder that millions of Myanmar workers find living circumstances across the border to be cheaper and more lucrative, and seek jobs there accordingly.  

Commodity prices and costs of living in Myanmar are skyrocketing, and while this affects everyone, it does not affect everyone equally. The livelihoods of basic workers who are denied the K4,800 per day mandated minimum under labour law are particularly precarious at a time of runaway inflation. 

With the kyat weakening precipitously against the US dollar since last year’s coup and the cost of basic goods rising, putting food on the table becomes more difficult for the working class with each passing month.  

Many people working as waiters in restaurants earn around K100,000 per month, meaning they make little more than K3,000 a day. As for child labourers, many have to work all day for just K50,000 to K60,000 per month. 

Child labour is both part of the larger labour rights picture, and a distinctly problematic issue in and of itself. Children are seen working in restaurants, beer stations and tea shops in every city and town across Myanmar. With few exceptions, the use of child labour is de facto forced labor, but this truth is often ignored as inconvenient in an impoverished country like Myanmar. 

When employers violate the statutory protections put in place to protect a nation’s workforce (and indeed, when many workers themselves are not aware of their rights), it is the responsibility of the government to step in and act in the interests of these labourers, whether they be age 50 or 15. 

Labour ministries across the world are tasked with being a bridge between employers and employees, mediating and monitoring the relationship so that neither side takes advantage of the other. Amid the political tumult of the past 18 months, Myanmar’s Ministry of Labour has not met the moment, failing to stand up for workers when they have arguably never had greater need for an advocate. 

With all of this in mind, Development Media Group (DMG) urges the Ministry of Labour and local governments to monitor and enforce the rights of the working and lower classes, who are far too frequently being deprived of their rights under the law. By shoring up these workers’ lives and livelihoods in this way, we strengthen the foundation of our society, and all are better off as a result.