Lead Story Migrants Issues News
Thai PM hears Burmese migrant workers’ concerns
Surachai told DVB that migrant fishermen are frequently threatened by Thai authorities and bosses if they raise their concerns.
Tagged: labour rights
Development Economy Feature Features Labour Issues Lead Story
In Burma, garment industry booms — and labour unions pay the price
Discrimination against workers standing up for their rights in Burma’s garment industry was highlighted this month after a union leader was fired at a factory supplying fashion brand H&M.
Labour Issues Lead Story Migrants Issues News
Bangkok factory boss gives in to Burmese workers’ demands
A factory boss has agreed to compensate Burmese workers at a motorcycle helmet factory in Bangkok after the migrants staged a one-day strike.
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Business Labour Issues Lead Story News
Labour rights reforms and impatient unions a challenge for NLD
Burma’s growing industrial workforce is becoming increasingly unionised and assertive.
Lead Story Migrants Issues News
Social media raises migrants’ awareness of rights
A Facebook post that alerted a group of Burmese migrants to their own exploitation has triggered a landmark case on the rights of foreign workers in Thailand.
Human Rights Labour Issues Lead Story News
Lack of rights leaves housemaids open to abuses
Thousands of girls from poor families across Burma work as maids for wealthier households, and often face gruelling working hours and abuse.
Lead Story Migrants Issues News
Thailand claims progress in effort to end sea slavery
Thai police say a crackdown on human traffickers has led to the dismantling of thirty five criminal rings supplying slaves to fishing boats.
Labour Issues Lead Story Migrants Issues News
Burmese exploited in Thai tourism sector: report
Three laundry staff said they worked up to 19 hours a day during the peak tourism season with only two days off a month. Another reported working 16-hour shifts with no time off.
Veteran activist detained on old charge
Labour activist Su Su Nway has again been arrested by authorities, this time in Mandalay, for organising a land grab protest without police permission.
Human Rights Labour Issues Lead Story News Protest
Han Jen hunger strikers demand fair conditions
Leaders of a mass strike at the Han Jen garment factory have continued talks with factory bosses, continuing to lobby for the demands of picketing workers.
Farmers right’s activist jailed
Farmer’s rights advocate Su Su Nway has been jailed in Pegu Division after being charged with trespassing.
Business Labour Issues Lead Story News
International brands support minimum wage, say watchdogs
Ethical Trading Initiative, Fair Labor Association say they are backed by 17 international manufacturers, including Adidas, Gap, Tesco, H&M and Patagonia.
Interview Lead Story News Video
Interview: DVB speaks to Steve Marshall, ILO
DVB sat down with ILO country liaison officer Steve Marshall to discuss how five years of political and economic reforms have touched Burma’s working class.
Business Economy Lead Story News
Thein Sein addresses minimum wage concerns
President notes that if wages are too high, it will affect production costs and foreign investment, but if too low then workers will take to the streets.
Labour Issues Lead Story News Rangoon
Workers’ rally in Hlaing Tharyar marks May Day
Around 500 workers from the factories of Hlaing Tharyar Industrial Zone in the outskirts of Rangoon held a rally in the city on International Workers’ Day.
Workers, journalists detained in Shwepyithar protest
Striking employees and journalists apprehended by police in continued Rangoon industrial action.
Minimum wage talks ongoing
Officials and labour representatives pushed to establish minimum wage figure within two months.
Law Lead Story Migrants Issues News
First defamation charges against Andy Hall dismissed
The first of four defamation charges brought against British activist Andy Hall by Thailand’s Natural Fruit Company was dismissed by a Bangkok court on Wednesday due to a legal technicality.
Labour Ministry orders Korean footwear firm to pay compensation
Burma’s Deputy Labour Minister Htin Aung has announced that the now defunct Master Sports footwear factory is obliged to pay severance packages and outstanding salaries to more than 700 laid-off workers.
20 injured in clash with police at closed Korean factory
About 20 former employees of the now defunct Master Sports footwear factory were injured during a standoff with police after they held an official captive at the facility on Tuesday.
British activist’s defamation trial begins in Bangkok
A potentially precedent-setting trial began on Tuesday in Bangkok, as British activist Andy Hall faced the first of four libel charges against him for his research about a Thai company’s alleged abuse of migrant labourers, the majority of whom are Burmese
Burma’s industrial relations at a crossroads
Industrial relations for the garment sector is at a crossroads, with representatives from unions and factories agreeing that both sides need more education and willingness to negotiate in order to fuel Burma’s burgeoning industry.
Gap’s report on supplier factories detail problems
The US Embassy of Burma released a report on Thursday voluntarily submitted by US retailer Gap Inc. detailing the compliance issues found in their two factories initially and the improvements made.
Court orders S Korean factory to pay dismissed workers
South Korean shoe manufacturer Master Sports has been ordered by a Rangoon court to compensate more than 750 factory workers who were suddenly laid off in June.
DVB Debate Lead Story News Video
DVB Debate: Protecting Burma’s migrants
Panellists on DVB Debate discuss how to protect the millions of migrant labourers who leave Burma in search of work.
Master Sports employees say they were coerced to give up severance
Former employees of a South Korean footwear factory said on Thursday that they were coerced into signing predatory agreements relinquishing severance pay.
Bullet Points
Bullet Points: the news for Friday 18 July is brought to you by Angus Watson.
Bullet Points
Bullet Points: bringing you the news for Thursday 17 July.
Lead Story Migrants Issues News Video
Mae Sot migrants demand labour rights
Burmese migrant workers in a garment factory in northern Thailand’s Mae Sot are striking over unpaid wages and long working hours.
ASEAN Lead Story News Politics Video
ASEAN on the move
With ASEAN countries pledging to unite as a single regional market in 2015, Asia Calling brought together leaders from their fields across the region to discuss whether the union will benefit the people living in ASEAN.
