The Myanmar’s National Tripartite Committee on the Minimum Wage has announced a 33 per cent hike in minimum wage for the country’s garment workers. The new minimum wage will now be 4,800 kyats/day, effective March 2018.
Garment factory owners are of the view that a 33 per cent increase in the minimum wage would be difficult for them to ensure. Further, Myanmar’s law requires 200 per cent wages for working overtime, the highest when compared to any other manufacturing country in the Southeast Asian region. However, in spite of the hike, the new minimum wage is still lower than 55 per cent increase demanded by many unions. SMART Myanmar, that promotes and supports the sustainable production of garments in Myanmar, will be updating the content in its app ‘Shwe Job’ by February this year to reflect these changes in the wages.
Shwe Job is a Myanmar language educational app that was launched to teach factory workers and managers about occupational safety and health and information on the country’s labour laws. Myanmar reported a strong year for the garment export sector during the seven-month period from April-November in 2017. During this period, Myanmar exported garment products valued at US $ 1.5 billion.
