Trade Union formed at Tai Yi footwear factory Hlaingtharyar, Yangon, Myanmar

Date: 2012 March 04

A meeting of the Tai Yi Footwear Workers Union was organized at No (17/18) Tun Min street, Quarter (5) Hlaing Thar Yar Township today to discuss on the legal needs and steps needed on the Trade Union Constitution and the registration of a trade union within the recently issued Labor Organization Rules.

Representatives of the Tai Yi factory formed the Trade Union on 2012 March 2.

MYO MIN THEIN the President of the union said "There are 1,862 workers at the Tai Yi factory and all us went on strike during February for better pay and decent work. During the strike and negotiations, we found we needed proper representation and so 100 workers signed on to form a trade union to collectively represent ourselves".

MYO MIN THEIN explained that -- "eight executive members were elected through opening vote and that he, Myo Min Thein was elected as the President of the union. And that there are now (21) signed on members of the Union, there are also (35) members who are working to provide support and these are in turn supported by the (100) workers who had signed to form the union".

It was also explained that the eight executives are consulting with U Htay, the unions' legal advisor in finalizing the Constitution of the Trade Union.

Contact: U Htay legal advisor - 098534539

Villagers not allowed to return to Myitsone dam area as state firm digs for gold

3 March 2012

MYITKYINA, Burma — More than 5 months after Burma’s nominally 
civilian government announced the suspension of the controversial Myitsone 
dam project, none of the more than 2000 villagers who were forcibly 
relocated to make way for the massive hydroelectric scheme have yet to 
receive official permission to return home, say environmental activists 
and opposition critics.

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Burma to increase domestic airfares

2 March 2012
Officials at Kanbawza airline’s air ticket center in Rangoon said that the 

price of a Rangoon-Mandalay ticket is now 65,000 kyat (about US$ 82); 

the price will be increased to 77,000 kyat ($97).
The energy minister ordered a price increase on Jet Fuel A1 starting 

from March 1.  “We unexpectedly received the information so it’s 

inconvenient for our customers,” Hla Htay, an official with the 

Shanyoema travel agency, told Mizzima.  

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Burmese arbitration court gives Tai Yi workers pay increase

2 March 2012
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A township labour arbitration court has ruled that 

striking workers at the Tai Yi footwear factory in an industrial district in 

Rangoon should receive a pay raise to a minimum 120 kyat (US$ 15 cents) 

per hour, amounting to a wage increase of about US$ 24 per month. 

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Burmese Migrants in Malaysia Face Registration Woes

2 March 2012

While a controversial government amnesty program for illegal migrants 

in Malaysia is expected to run out next month, a similar scheme may 

soon affect  tens of thousands of Burmese refugees in the nation.

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