Victoria Shopping Center, a mall in Hlaing Tharyar township that was the focus of protests over the country’s new minimum wage in October, shut down on Wednesday.
Reasons for the closure, reported by Radio Free Asia’s Burmese service, are unclear. Management informed the workers about the move shortly after the protests, which could mean they were unwilling or unable to meet the legally mandated raise. The shopping center has been open since 2008.
The daily amount of K3,600 (about $2.75) for an eight-hour workday was approved in August.
According to the RFA report, more than 200 employees were compensated as part of the shutdown. They shared some of the funds with dozens of people who had not worked long enough to qualify for severance pay.
“There are 245 employees. They said they can’t give any compensation to the 28 employees who have less than six months of experience,” said Aung Waiyan Oo, one of those who received a payout. “We collected donated money from employees who got compensation and shared it with those 28 employees. The rest of the people got compensation according to their experience.”
Photo / Clay Gilliland / Wikicommons
