The Mayangone
Township court made their decision following two days of deliberations after
originally hearing the case on Tuesday.
Moe Wai, one of
the 45 worker leaders, said, “The court decided that a worker was entitled to
receive a minimum wage of 51,000 kyat (US $63.8) per month excluding additional
overtime fees.”
Monthly
salaries for each worker vary—some currently receive far less than this new
standard wage and some earn more. Moe Wai, an employee with eight years
experience working at the firm, earns more than 70,000 kyat (US $86.2) per
month including both basic salary and bonus pay.
“The court
decision did not clearly state about monthly and annual bonus pay, and whether
it is excluded from the minimum wage or not,” she added.
Phoe Phyu, the
lawyer representing the workers, told The
Irrawaddy that the standard set salary has increased. However, he
added, “The decision did not cover other demands for improving conditions in
the factory such as providing good latrines or working relations between
employees and the employer.”
He said,
according to the court decision, the hourly pay raise was from 100 kyat to 120
kyat ($0.12 to $ 0.14) while bonus pay remains the same as the employer's offer
of 7,000 kyat ($8.62).
He added that
the court's statement also did not include anything regarding workers' demands
to be reimbursed for wages deducted during unofficial holidays during the
Chinese New Year, which was the initial reason the strike first took place on
Feb. 6.
The walk-out
ended on Tuesday when all strikers at the Chinese-owned factory returned to
work in accordance with a court order stating that plaintiff employees must not
strike while the arbitration court is proceeding. Employees officially
announced their intention to form a Workers Union that same day.
REF: Irrawaddy.org
