Strike for 50 cents at factory exporting footwear to Europe, Canada and US
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Workers at Yimei shoe factory continued their strike outside the factory in Hlaingthaya industrial zone for an eighth day on September 17, after the Chinese-owned firm refused to give in to their request for a Ks 500 (about 50 US cents) rise in their dail
They said that the company – which exports children’s footwear to Canada, the United States and the European Union – offered them a maximum Ks 100 raise.
Yimei employee Thet Paing said workers could not accept the US 10 cent raise because it was not enough.
Factory manager Thin Thin Mar, however, said their demand for an extra 50 US cents a day was unreasonable and that if the company agreed it salaries would rise above those offered by other factories.
Besides asking for a raise of about 50 US cents a day, workers are also striking for a cost of living allowance of Ks 30,000 a month as well as higher overtime pay. The company offered a cost of living allowance of Ks 3,000 a month, workers said.
“We tried negotiations but they offered too little,” Thet Paing said.
Thin Mar said negotiations would continue.
The factory opened on September 9, 2013 and employs about 300 workers.
It is owned by Guangdong province-based Yimei Shoes Manufacturing Factory of Haifeng Co Ltd, which exports footwear for children to Canada, the European Union and the United States, according to its website. It opened its factory in Myanmar to meet rising demand for its products in these markets, the website says.
