Local Myanmar community-based organisations, non-government organisations and hundreds of migrant workers from Myanmar joined together yesterday to celebrate International Workers’ Day (May Day) in Mae Sot, Thailand.
The event was conducted by Yaung Chi Oo Workers’ Association (YCOWA) in cooperation with twelve other community-based organisations and NGOs. These included the Arakan Labour Campaing (ALC), Burma Lawyers’ Council (BLC), Burma Workers’ Network (BWN), the Democratic Party for a New Society (DPNS), the Foundation for Education and Development (FED), MAP Foundation, the Overseas Irrawaddy Association (OIA), Pankangaw Workers’ Association (PWA), and Social and Health Development Association (SHDA), along with the International Rescue Committee (with financial support from USAID).
The event began with English and Myanmar language versions of “The Internationale” (anthem of the global workers’ movement) and a brief video documenting the history of the 1886 Haymarket affair. The Haymarket affair, in which seven labour leaders were unjustly prosecuted and sentenced to death in Chicago, serves as the basis for annual May Day commemorations around the world.
Speakers at the rally included Ko Myo Zaw and Ko Soe San from the Yaung Chi Oo Workers’ Association, U Myint Thein (BLC), Htut Oo Hlaing (DPNS), Ko Naing Naing (MAP Foundation), and Anne Stokle (UNISON – UK). The speakers outlined the legal rights of migrant workers under Thai labour law and stressed the importance of workers’ self-organisation and solidarity as the necessary foundations for claiming their rights. Following these speakers, a puzzle about the right of workers was conducted by YCOWA in an attempt to inform the migrant workers of their rights. Afterward, Myanmar migrant worker Ko Maung Oo spoke to the audience about his own experience successfully winning a legal case against his employer over the non-payment of wages with the help of YCOWA.
The organisations involved in planning the event released an open letter to the Thai authorities calling for an investigation into the abuse and exploitation of migrant workers in Thailand’s Tak Province and for measures to be taken to address these issues. The document highlighted the large gap between the legal minimum wage in Tak Province of 226 baht per day and the actual wage migrants receive, which is often below 100 baht per day; the forced overtime workers must endure, which extends actual work time to 12-20 hours per day; and the excessive duration of legal cases pursued through the Thai Labour Protection Office.
At mid-day, the workers and organisers marched through the Mae Sot market chanting “Getting workers’ rights is our demand!” The workers also held posters demanding the basic rights of workers: “8 hours to work, 8 hours to rest, 8 hours to sleep” “It is the workers’ right to have a holiday in a week” “Give the minimum wage of 226 baht per day now!”. The marchers then proceeded to a local Thai high school where they joined up with another May Day rally and football tournament that was organised by international organisations, with support from the Thai government.
