YANGON: A total of 60 employees from Mingalar Sky, which provides cleaning services at the Yangon International Airport, have been laid off following the drop in the number of travellers.
According to reports in the Myanmar Times, a labour union leader said it would be filing a complaint over the dismissal with the Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population.
Employees from the Housekeeping Department will be dropped due to the drop in airport traffic as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
U Kyin Thein from the Confederation of Trade Unions of Myanmar said the workers were upset because the company did not follow the law.
“Among those laid off are pregnant women and those who have many years of service. The dismissals were against the law.”
The company said it would pay the workers compensation, notice and leave based on years of service by April 2, according to law.
“Compensation of two or three months’ salary will be given to the employees depending on years of service.
“They are upset because they are being pressured to accept it. We’ve met with the supervisors and will meet with the management,” said U Kyin Thein.
Ma Hnin Wai Zin, one of those dismissed, said the government should have dismissed newly hired workers, not those with years of service.
“If they reduce the workforce, they must start with those with the least service. We don’t have any misconduct record, so we don’t know why we were dismissed.”
At least 20 of Myanmar’s 500 factories had shut down, most of them garment manufacturers, leaving more than 10,000 people jobless.
The businesses blamed the shutdown on a shortage of raw materials from China caused by the pandemic.
Fifteen of the factories had permanently shut down, while five had stopped operating temporarily. Others had laid off workers.