By Ma Ma - May 17, 2025

The Myanmar Industry Craft Service-Trade Unions Federation (MICS-TUsF) has called for renewed dialogue between international brands and domestic labour unions to revise the country’s minimum wage rate in line with current economic realities.

This statement was released on May 14, following a prior recommendation by the EU Chamber (EU Cham) in April, which also urged a formal review of Myanmar’s minimum wage.

“The current minimum wage is worth only half of what it was in 2018 with soaring inflation and the depreciation of the kyat,, making it extremely difficult for workers to afford basic living costs,” MICS-TUsF stated.

Myanmar’s official minimum wage rate — 4,800 kyats for an 8-hour workday — was last set in May 2018. Since then, no formal adjustment has been made to reflect economic changes. The current military regime only announced an additional 2,000 kyats under a separate “supplementary subsidy” scheme, which has yet to be consistently implemented.

Many factories do not fully pay this allowance, and the Ministry of Labour has failed to ensure accountability, leading to growing hardship among workers.

“Right now, we’re working under very difficult conditions. Overtime is no longer optional — we’re forced to work more than before. We’re doing both all-day and all-night shifts without rest, just to earn enough for food. We can’t even save. Basically, we only manage to eat because of overtime,” said a factory worker from Shwe Pyi Thar.

The Solidarity Trade Union of Myanmar (STUM) has also released findings from surveys indicating that the current minimum wage is far from adequate. According to their report, workers now need between 12,000 to over 17,000 kyats per day for an 8-hour shift to meet their basic needs.