By Editor - May 20, 2025
Workers from the True Green Plastic Pallets factory in the Wataya Industrial Zone, Shwe Pyi Thar Township, began a sitdown strike today (May 19) at 4:30 p.m., demanding wage increases and the reinstatement of dismissed union leaders.
More than 100 workers joined the sitdown strike, calling for the daily wage to be raised from 6,800 kyats to 10,000 kyats, and for the factory to allow trade union leaders—who were dismissed without cause—to return to the workplace. The union leaders were fired during ongoing tripartite negotiations involving demands such as wage increases and improved attendance bonuses.
“The current wages are simply not enough with rising living costs. The employer said this was all they could offer and refused to negotiate further. That’s not acceptable,” said a representative from the Shwe Pyi Thar Township Labour Organization.
The representative also stated that the factory continues to violate workers’ rights and condemned the recent dismissals as part of a broader pattern of exploitation.
Workers are demands include
1. An increase of the daily wage to 10,000 kyats.
- The attendance bonus of 30,000 kyats be deducted in two halves—15,000 kyats each—if they are absent during the first or second half of the month.
Four trade union leaders including the executive committee were dismissed while negotiations on these points were ongoing through a tripartite coordination team.
