Our friends at the Federation of General Workers Myanmar (FGWM) informed us about the wildcat strike joined by hundreds of workers at the factory run by Charis Company Ltd in Yangon (Myanmar).
The labour struggle is still ongoing and is also being supported by the ICL-CIT Working Group Asia.
More than 300 of the 500 workers at the factory run by Charis Company Ltd (RHEA Workshop Co. Ltd) located in Mya Sein Yaung Industrial Zone in Yangon Region (Myanmar) went on a wildcat strike on November 6th. The factory workers produce sculptures primarily for Wise Unicorn Industrial Ltd.
You can see a clip of the striking workers here;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lop5cg9G2AM
The conflict started when bonus payments (which should have been made by Oct. 21st) were not made by the management. In a first step some workers refused to work overtime and staged a sit-in on October 31st. As the situation intensified two female workers were physically attacked by the factory director Wang Xiao Jun. He grabbed their hands and pushed them hard enough that they fell over.
On November 6th 350 workers united in a walk-out and handed over a list of 17 demands to the management, incl. the dismissal of the director who attacked the workers.
A complete list of demands can be seen here:
https://globalmayday.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/charis-4.jpeg
Only one day later 13 workers were fired for inciting strike actions. The remaining workers on strike joined those who were locked out in front of the factory compound and staged a sit-in demanding that the 13 workers be reinstated. On the same day, plain clothed police entered the factory compound saying that they want to “help with negotiations” and threatening workers to stop striking or be forcibly dispersed
On November 12th a letter was submitted by the workers of Charis factory to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) asking for support.
Wise Unicorn Industrial Ltd has its headquarter in Taipei and further offices in Hong Kong and Hui Yang City (Guang Dong) as well as showrooms in the USA.
