Despite the existence of a minimum wage, workers in Myanmar’s garment factories still find it hard to make ends meet and suffer from harsh work conditions, according to Oxfam.
The workers in Myanmar usually earn an average of less than $100 (Ks 122,000) a month, including overtime fees and bonuses. Many have to work about 11 hours a day, six days a week. Yet, 75 per cent of the workers are unable to cover the cost of basic needs like food, medicine and transport, the report said.
It also said that most of the workers have to borrow money even to meet their daily needs, further putting them under debt pressure. Rents are so expensive that almost half of their earnings are invested on accommodation alone. And 90 per cent of workers are not even able to save any of their income.
Oxfam, which has been working in Myanmar since 2008, launched a briefing paper last week entitled “Made in Myanmar: Entrenched poverty or decent jobs for garment workers?" It was based on research by Oxfam, the Cooperative Committee of Trade Unions, 88 Generation Peace and Open Society, Action Labour Rights, and Labour Rights Defenders & Promoters (LRDP). Some 123 workers from 22 factories in six industrial zones in Yangon - Dagon Seikkan, Shwe Lin Pan, Mingalardon, Bago, Thilawa, and Hlaing Tharyar - were interviewed. Nearly 90 per cent of respondents were female with an average age of 23 years.
www.oxfam.org
