FederationofTrade UnionsBurma

Responsibilities & Rights

International Contact Burma Office - Japan 101-0062 3F, Sohyo Kaikan 3-2-11, Kanda-Surugadai Chiyoda-Ku Tokyo Japan Tel: 81 3 5296 3010 Fax: 81 3 5296 7903

Statement on Increase of Salaries, Wages of Public services In the sixth day session of First Pyidaungsu Hluttaw held on February 7, Pyithu Hluttaw Speaker Thura Shwe Mann called on the Speaker and representatives of Pyidaungsu Hluttaw to make a decisiontoincreasethesalariesofworkersandemployeesatthestartoftheupcomingfiscalyearso thattheycanenjoyhighlivingstandards,acleangovernment,andsothatgoodgovernancecanbe formed. UnionMinisterforFinanceandRevenue,UHlaTun,onbehalfofthePresident,rejectedthesalary increase because (1) the country would consequently face a debt problem if budget deficits are increasedby borrowing fromforeigncountries,and(2) ifthebudgetisincreasedbymeansofthe printingofmorecurrency,anincreaseintheamountofcurrencywouldcontributetohighinflation andrisinggoodsprices,andwouldhaveanegativeimpactatthegrassrootslevel. FTUBdisagreeswithMinisterUHlaTunsclarificationofthedenialandonthefactthattheMinister didnotmentionasoultion,onhowtoincreasepayandsalaryforthepublicservices. Rejectionofdemandsfromtheworkeriseasy,afactorymanagersjob,notthatofaministerofthe government. The difference is that this need to raise the basic pay was presented by the speaker of Pyithu Hluttaw,onbehalfoftheelectedrepresentativesofthePyithuHluttaw.ItisnotfortheMinisterto rejectoutrightbuttofindasolutiontoimplementthepoliciesarticulatedbyPyithuHluttaw. MinisterUHlaTunpointsoutthatthegovernmenthastobetransparentandaccountableregarding thecountry'sbudget.On2012Feb1,UHlaTunadmittedthatBurmaowesUS$11billion.These foreign loans were undertaken by U Than Shwe, the previous military government and while the sameUHlaTunwastheministerforFinanceandRevenue. However,FTUBnoticesthattheMinisterUHlaTunandthegovernmentisnottransparentregarding whattheseloanswereusedfor,andareusingtheParliamentfornotbeingaccountable. U Hla Tun should clarify where these loans were used, in particular, he should clarify it with the relevantfigures,likehehasdoneinhisrejectionontheincreaseofbasicpay.ThepeopleofBurma havetopaybacktheseloans,ofwhichtheywereneverinformedorhadanybenefit.

He mentions that by "raising pay and salaries with the debt from foreign countries, the country wouldfacedebtburdenproblem",whichisneitherfairnorjustfortheworkers,whoareimportant forthecountry'seconomicdevelopment. Burmas deficit and debt are increased by overspending on unneeded weapons, by developing nuclearpower,bymilitaryoffensivesinethnicterritories,andbypayingformilitaryofficerstostudy nucleartechnologyinRussiaandothercountriesundertheUThanShwegovernment. The national budget remains insufficient. Lack of a robust taxation system reduces income. The taxation system has no transparency or accountability, and most taxes are paid to corrupt self interested officials, while tax exemptions are made for business tycoons, who are close to the militaryregime,exemptionsthatnegativelyaffectthecountrysincome. Political instability, financial crisis, and the illegal migration of millions of workers to foreign countries, all impact Burmas human resources, decreases Burmas production, and decreases per capitaincome. Decreasingproductivityfromtheagriculturalsector,whichisthekeysectorofMyanmarseconomy, is the result of a lack of freedom in agricultural production. That is, the lack of freedom to grow crops and the lack of freedom to sell them, in combination with orders by the military regime, reducesthecountry'sproduction. Investment is unsecured due to the political instability. The savings of banks is not guaranteed. People who want to save money are buying houses, land, and jewelries. As a result, the lack of interestininvestmentaffectsthecapitalflowinthemarketsandconsequentlytheeconomyofthe country. Today, public services, basic workers working in different sectors, and farmers, are all facing the problems ofhigh livingcostsandhigh transportation costs sincetheirearningsare inadequate for theirsurvival.Therefore,raisingpayandsalariesforworkersisneeded. TheUTheinSeingovernmentneedstotakethefollowingmeasurestoincreaseGDP. (a) to collect taxes in accordance with the laws and to scrutinize the people who are enjoying tax exemptions (b)toreducecorruptionandbribery (c)toallowfarmersfreedomtogrowcrops,freedomtosellthem,andfreedomtoproduceandto monitorthegovernment'sassistancetofarmersforimprovingcountryGDP. (d)todevelopafreeeconomicsystemwithoutcorruption. (e)tobalancecommoditypriceswithbettertransportation (f)toachievebasicworkersrights (g)tocreatestablepoliticalsituationandopportunitiesforbusiness. (h)tostoptheprojectswhichishighlyinvestedandcannotbenefitthecountryandthepeople. (i)toreallocatethesalaryandforthecurrentgovernmentcomparingtothegovernment'ssalariesof otherdevelopingcountries. 2

(j)tostopoverspendingonweaponsandnuclearplantationandtoreduceunneededmilitarypower. Byadheringtothesemeasures,thegovernmentcanrapidlydevelopthecountrywithoutborrowing moneyfromforeigncountries,andtheworkerscanreceiveadecentwage. Fora"clean government andtoachievegoodgovernance",skilledand decent workers and public servicesareneeded. Therefore,forthebenefitsofworkersandthecountry,decentwagesareimportantfortheworkers, andthegovernmentneedstoincreasepayandsalaryforthem. February22,2012 Contact: UAungThin Ph:+66811036417 FederationofTradeUnionsBurma(FTUB)