Exploitation rises in Myanmar

In Myanmar, even though open protests are not common any more as they were after the February 2021 military coup, the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) is still in action. A lot of state employees are no longer actively working in their positions. A small number of student activists and workers still protest, though in guerrilla style to avoid being arrested.

On 24 August 2022, the military regime detained Vicky Bowman, a former British ambassador to Myanmar, and her husband Htein Lin, a Burmese artist and former political prisoner, on immigration-related allegations.

In July 2022, four democracy advocates were put to death by Myanmar's military junta on suspicion of aiding in "terror actions". These were the country's first executions in decades. The death of former hip-hop singer and ex-MP Phyo Zeya Thaw, who is a member of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) shocked expatriate communities. Ko Jimmy, a well-known democracy advocate, was also put to death. Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw were the other two men executed. After the death sentences against those four, hundred of workers, activists and revolutionaries are being listed for death penalty by the military junta.

During the first week of August 2022, in a decision by the military administration, Toru Kubota, a Japanese journalist, was charged with violating immigration rules. In the second week of August 2022 Sean Turnell, an Australian researcher who served as Aung San Suu Kyi's economic adviser, appeared in public for the first time with his testimony in the military court. In the following week, another six years of prison sentence were added to Aung San Suu Kyi’s 11-year original sentence by the military junta.

On 1 February 2022 the people of Myanmar participated in a "silent strike" on February 1, 2022, to honour the one anniversary of the military takeover. They stayed indoors, shut down businesses, and stopped all outside activities, leaving the streets of several major towns and cities all but barren. Participants had been forewarned that they risked being charged with breaking the statute against inciting terrorism. The military lobbyist “Han Nyein Oo” called on his Telegram channel for the arrest of shop owners who had announced on social media that their business would be closed on the day of the silent strike. He made the announcement on his Telegram channel. The military council then jailed more than 200 individuals.

Following the economic crisis caused by the mismanagement of the military junta, their inefficiency in administration capabilities, and the upheavals of an ongoing revolution, a lot of capitalist corporates are exploiting the workers more and more.

Food Panda Myanmar's management announced severe wage cuts on 16 March 2022. In response, riders shut down their accounts and arranged a strike on their own. Nearly 90% of the affected employees joined within three days. In Myanmar, there are about 9,000 Food Panda riders, with 7,000 of them based in Yangon, the country's capital. One cyclist claims that where they were previously paid 1000 Myanmar Kyats for a distance, it is now only 500–600 Myanmar Kyats.

In July 2022, almost 2,000 employees of a garment factory in Mingaladon Township's Zaykabar Industrial Park in Yangon went on strike, claiming that violations of their fundamental rights had become intolerable. The labourers are employed by JW Factory, a facility in the industrial park that is run by ADK, or "A Dream of Kind," and is owned by Great Glowing Investment. The reasons for the strike are abuses of power in the factory and wages which are way lower than minimum wages.

According to a report on 25 August 2022, the Lotte Hotel Corporation, a joint venture between the military junta and the South Korean business group POSCO, has decreased the currency rate when paying salaries to local staff. The market exchange rate between Myanmar kyats and US dollars is around at least 2100 Myanmar Kyats for one US dollar. However, they are exploiting the marginalised local Burmese employees by calculating the wages with the exchange rate of 1000 Myanmar Kyats for one US dollar.

All these incidents show that workers should not restrict their aims to liberal democracy. They must liberate themselves not only from the military junta but also from capitalist wage-slavery too.

The working class is the force that has the power to transform society, just as it has the power to paralyse the entire system. The misfortune of Burma is that the working class lacks a vision that is willing to go above and beyond the demands of liberal democracy. However, if the working class gained the leadership position, it could rally the youth, the middle class, peasants, and national minorities behind it, not only to overthrow the military regime but also to eradicate capitalism.