26 March
Globally, 2020 will be a very difficult year. The Coronavirus pandemic is currently impacting the global economy.
The spread of Coronavirus presents us with unknown operational and financial challenges. At the same time, there are concerns about sustained economic impacts.
The consequences of the global pandemic of the Coronavirus infection have forced some CMP (Cut-Make-Pack) garment factories with a high number of labourers, some hotel and tourism industries and some SMEs to lay off, reduce working hours and also shut down.
The situation can lead to disputes between employers and employees, protests, rising unemployed rate. It is uncertain how severely or for how long this will also affect our labour sector.
To lessen the consequences of the global pandemic, governmental departments concerned, employers and employees are advised to seek ways for tackling the crisis before the situation gets worst.
Some factories and industries, bearing the brunt of the Coronavirus pandemic, shut down and laid off their workers in Myanmar, but some new factories have come into operation since the beginning of 2020.
The CMP and SME employers do not want to lose their experienced workers (and their market), employees do not want to lose their jobs, the Government does not want a national collapse – and international investors are looking for those who can survive this crisis.
The government has already pledged K100 billion loan with low interest rate to the industries with high labour including garment factories, hotels, and small and medium enterprises.
At the same time, it has been found that the consequences of the global pandemic has still not make our labour sector worse, with normal employment situation, so we should make efforts to main this current trajectory.
To keep this situation on the current growth trajectory, the authorities are obliged to create job opportunities as soon as possible.
In this time of crisis, workers and employers are advised to focus on operating the businesses and to ensure the current job opportunities, without disputing rights and opportunities.
Businesses should be flexible moving forward and track how coronavirus has affected their business on a regular basis.
The employers and employees are urged to seek ways for overcoming the current challenges through negotiations.
We need to be in this together and show some compassion during this very important time in our lives. We are confident that we can get through this together.
GNLM
