Labor policy and administration
Safety at work
Korean language test draws 30,000 workers
More than 30,000 people have applied to sit for a Korean language proficiency test, which is a requirement for those hoping to work in South Korea, said Daw Thin Thin Lwin, staff officer of the Government Overseas Employment Agency. The applications were released to be sold ...
New wage law flawed: study
Observers and advocates on March 22 flagged several violations of international human and workers’ rights in the Kingdom’s draft minimum wage law, calling for the removal of clauses that would impinge on workers’ right to assembly and freedom of expression. The draft law looks to widen ...
Factory workers demand 10 days off at Thingyan
More than 1000 workers at the Ever Sunny Foods factory in Yangon Region’s Hlaing Tharyar township went on strike on March 20 to protest the management’s decision to cut the Myanmar New Year holidays from 10 to five days and to demand for labour rights ...
Minister holds talks on union law
Union leaders on March 14 met Labor Minister Ith Samheng to discuss concerns about the Trade Union Law adopted in May last year. Pav Sina, the president of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers, told Khmer Times that Mr. Samheng agreed to hold the meeting to ...
Employers seek delay in garment pay reform
Plans to pay garment workers twice a month will be difficult for employers to implement, industry representatives have warned. The Labor Ministry is amending laws so companies will be required to pay staff twice a month, in a bid to protect workers from being abandoned by ...
Myanmar garment industry body denies use of child labour in factories
Despite recent international reports which accused some garment factories in Myanmar of labour abuses, top executives of Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association said last week that the industry did not accept the use of child labour, in line with the standards of International Labour Organisation. Some international ...
MGMA disputes Guardian accusations of labour abuse
The Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association has hit back at international news outlets over alleged child labour and labour abuse issues. Members of the MGMA have accused those news reports as “unacceptable” and “not accurate” at a press conference held on 6 March in Yangon. “Their ...
Unemployment edging up, NESDB says
Although unemployment was still quite low in 2016 at 0.99 per cent, it has been relentlessly climbing, with rates of 0.8 per cent in 2013 and 0.9 per cent in 2014 and 2015. The National Economic and Social Development Board said on March 6 that January’s unemployment ...
Workers slam eroding conditions for women
Proposed legislation to eliminate some favourable conditions for female workers has met with resistance by both workers and employer. If approved, the draft Labour Code for 2018 would remove the favourable terms for female workers that were regulated by the 2012 Labour Code. These include ...
Factory workers protest over rates cut in Mandalay Region
Workers at the Kan Kaung Chin Yadanar wood products factory in Mandalay Region staged a sit-in yesterday over what they described as unfair labour practices by the management. About 60 piece job wage workers who took part in the protest are demanding piece job rates ...