☆ SOLIDARITY ☆

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.

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.

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 must 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.

The information of this report was shared by factory workers on the ground with the Federation of General Workers Myanmar (FGWM) and was forwarded to the International Confederation of Labour (ICL-CIT) Working Group Asia.

Updates on the developments will be published here as soon as they are received.

Solidarity

On November 23rd comrades of the Free Workers’ Union (FAU) Dresden used their annual retreat to express their support for the workers struggling at Charis factory and send greetings to the friends of the Federation of General Workers Myanmar (FGWM).

A fundraising in support of the factory workers was set up by a union organiser in Washington DC. Support it, if you can.