By Yoon Satt - Feb 10, 2024
According to the basic class people and general workers, their financial struggles for livelihoods escalates as not only the commodity prices but also the transportation prices increased and its not enough with their basic salary.
“Some factories provide transportation but some don’t. If the factory doesn’t provide transportation, we have to take a bus and transportation fees are increasing as the same as the commodity prices. We are not able to survive with our lowest wages. Our life become more difficult,” said a worker.
It costs from 1,600 kyats to 2,000 kyats for a worker whose factory does not provide transportation. And also, the expenses are also increasing and its not enough with the workers’ basic salary of 4,800 kyats daily wages and 1,000 kyats allowance. This make the worker difficult to fill up their stomach.
“I feel very pity for the factory workers who are working with 4 or 5 thousand kyats a day. The transportation fee cost 2,000 kyats. And the remaining 3,000 kyats just get a meal. They have to work more; commodity prices increase but the wages does not. The general workers’ earnings are only enough for them to eat only a meal per day,” said the worker.
The basic class people who are working in Yangon had to take at least 2 buses to reach the workplace. The bus fees costs from 400 to 500 kyats and workers have to deal with other general expenses too. That is which makes them more stressful.
The Junta raised 1,000 kyats allowance per in addition of 4,800 kyats allowance starting at October 1, 2023. But as the overtime is only counted upon 4,800 kyats rate, the workers are not entitled to overtime fee raise. From the workers’ perspective, the 1,000 allowance definitely would not enough for surviving a day. The workers had stated that it doesn’t make them sufficient in anyway.
The current minimum wages for 8 hours working hours per day is 4,800 kyats and it was stipulated since 2018. The law said it should be revised every 2 years to be inline with the commodity prices but the 1,000 kyats allowance was added only on October 2023.
