Working conditions in Myanmar’s labour market faced decades of neglect under authoritarian governments, contributing to a laissez-faire system where employers unilaterally set the terms of employment for their workers and labour rights were neither adequately established under law or respected in practice.

At the same time, underdevelopment caused by isolation from the international community and a regime of strict economic sanctions meant that there were insufficient decent job opportunities available.

This Report Discussion is now over. However, the report can be read at the above address.

Since a wide-ranging political and economic liberalization process was initiated in 2010, intensive efforts at reforming Myanmar’s outdated, contradictory and vague labour legislation were made.

Among the key changes were the introduction of a minimum wage, legalisation of labour organisations, establishment of processes for dispute resolution, adopting higher standards for occupational safety and health and expansion of coverage by social security.

However, government and private sector sensitivities about research related to working conditions meant that few rigorous large-scale studies were undertaken to determine the impact of the legislative changes on workers themselves.

Ten years after the reforms began, the Livelihoods and Food Security Fund conducted a survey of more than 2,400 workers to help fill the knowledge gap by assessing how effective the improved labour governance framework has been in ensuring decent working conditions.

In particular, it represents the first major study of the prevalence of forced labour in Myanmar since 2015.

The report was launched in August 2020 and research was conducted mostly before the coup, but in the discussion speakers will also reflect on the present conditions.

The actions of the Tatmadaw now suggest a return to more openly exploitative employment practices and suppression of worker organizing. Indications are that the return to military rule has already begun to roll back many of the hard-fought gains made in expanding labour protection during recent years.

As part of cracking down on resistance to its seizure of power, the Tatmadaw has now declared numerous trade unions and labour rights CSOs to be “illegal labour organisations”, creating a blacklist and attempting to arrest many leading labour advocates.

This targeted persecution represents a major threat to workers’ rights in Myanmar.