Adidas Factory Workers in Myanmar Strike Over Poverty Pay

[geovalin]

NMN

 

Thousands of workers at a major Adidas supplier in Yangon have gone on strike demanding a liveable wage, as Myanmar’s garment sector faces mounting unrest over stagnant pay and soaring inflation.

 

Since Wednesday evening, around 4,000 employees at Tsang Yih Shoe Factory in Hlaing Tharyar Township have staged a sit-in, calling for their daily wage to be raised from just 5,200 kyats—less than £1—to 12,000 kyats, a figure they say reflects basic living costs.

 

“We waited and waited for someone to help us, but nothing changed. So we took action ourselves,” said one woman at the protest, who asked to remain anonymous.

 

Factory management responded by promising a decision within five days, but workers rejected the delay and were threatened with dismissal for unauthorised absence. Tsang Yih, which began operations in 2014, is one of Adidas’s largest footwear suppliers in Myanmar.

 

Labour tensions are rising across the country. The Federation of General Workers Myanmar (FGWM) says more strikes are likely next month as more workers begin demanding wage hikes. In April, a similar strike saw demands met within a day—only for organisers to be sacked shortly after.

 

Since Myanmar’s military coup in 2021, labour rights have sharply deteriorated. Complaints often go ignored, and union activity is routinely suppressed. Some employers are reported to pay bribes to the junta to quell strikes, and dozens of workers have been fired for organising or participating in protests.

 

The official minimum wage has remained frozen at 4,800 kyats since 2018, despite the cost of living nearly tripling. A nominal daily allowance introduced by the junta in 2023 and increased in 2024 is inconsistently applied, leaving many workers far below subsistence levels.

 

A recent survey by the Solidarity Trade Union of Myanmar (STUM) found that workers need between 12,000 and 17,000 kyats per day just to afford essentials like food, housing, and transport.

 

As inflation continues to spiral and wages lag ever further behind, Myanmar’s garment workers are reaching a breaking point—while global brands like Adidas face renewed scrutiny over labour conditions in their supply chains.

 

-2025-05-19