CNI News
17 Dec 2022
A large number of Myanmar workers have been sacked without any reason and compensation in Thailand, labour activists for Myanmar workers told the CNI.
Although there were some Myanmar workers who were dismissed without any reason and compensation in the past, the number of them was not as many as recently. They were fired from factories and workshops, according to labour activists.
Some of them were working under the MOU between the two governments while others were temporary work permit holders and illegal migrants, Ko Thar Gyi, a labour activist for Myanmar workers in Thailand, told the CNI.
Sacked Myanmar workers who received compensation
He said, "They were sacked without any reason. When a new worker applies for a job, he or she has to pay agent fees from Baht 2,000 to 4,000 to get the job. So, agents bring new workers to factories to get agent fees and sack old workers without any reason. If MOU workers demand jobs and wages in accordance with the terms of their job contracts, employers sack them. When they are sacked, they are expelled from their hostels and get into trouble because they have no place to live. It is very difficult for them to sue their employers."
When MOU workers and work permit holders are dismissed without any reason, it is easy for labour organizations to help them for compensation, according to the activists.
However, illegal workers get wages for a few days or travel allowance as compensation when they are fired without any reason.
As authorities are making arrests of illegal migrant workers, employers are worried that they might also be punished by authorities for allowing illegal migrants to work for them and sack illegal workers, Executive Director U Htoo Chit of the Foundation for Education and Development told the CNI.
More than 5,000 Myanmar migrants who did not get jobs staged a demonstration on 9th December.
He said, "Employers hired illegal workers in the past but they are now sacking such workers. Another reason is that they are required to employ an MOU worker at the job stated in the job contract in accordance with the law. They cannot employ a bricklayer in a restaurant because this breaches the law. So, they sack such workers. If they do not, action can be taken against them in accordance with the law."
On 9th December, more than 5,000 Myanmar migrants staged a demonstration in front of a Thai labour office after they had been cheated out of their money by Thai and Myanmar agents who promised them to help get jobs in a seafood factory. They had been waiting to get the jobs for six months.
Labour activists and Thai authorities held discussions to solve the issue and promised them to provide jobs and to get their money back.
Myanmar workers in Thailand who are subject to wage exploitation, sacking without reason and compensation, workers' right abuses can make complaints at township offices for protection of workers, according to labour activists for Myanmar workers in Thailand.
