Myanmar workers demand jail time for offending employers



YANGON: -- Over 1500 factory workers marched through Yangon’s industrial outer ring on Sunday demanding legal revisions that could see employers imprisoned for labour abuses, The Myanmar Times reported.

The workers say the 2012 Settlement of Labour Dispute Law has done little to protect them, as bosses flout the rules with impunity, or at most face small-scale fines. The workers allege that they are left with little recourse, despite fuelling a growing industry that provides a sizeable portion of the country’s exports.

During the demonstration in Hlaing Tharyar industrial zone, the factory workers demanded the next government institute potential prison penalties in order to effectively stop rampant rights abuses in the sector. The Myanmar Workers Unions Network also said lax enforcement of the labour laws needs to be addressed.

U Win Htein, a spokesperson for the National League for Democracy, said the party has not committed to an exact labour strategy because it is not yet in power.

U Htey, a lawyer and labour representative on the Tribunal Council, a dispute settlement body, acknowledged that employers frequently disregard orders to rehire wrongfully axed workers. Most employers don’t care about breaking the rulings or the law because they are rarely penalised.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/content/147197


-- Thai PBS 2016-01-19

Like that is going to happen

...come to Thailand....maybe you will think twice......